Iruka's obsession
by aidan bard
Summary: There are so many fics with Kakashi stalks Iruka angle I thought I’ll give it a reverse spin. Iruka is obsessed with Kakashi and just when he thinks things are going to work between them ... slash...that is m/m/ Don't like. Don't read
1. Chapter 1

Title:Iruka's Obsession

Pairing: Kakashi / Iruka

Rating: Adult –Eventually. But not for the first few parts.

Warnings: Romance, Comedy, Action

Summary: There are so many fics with Kakashi stalks Iruka angle I thought I'll give it a reverse spin.

Beta: kokiden – thank you

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters. What I'm doing is strictly for fun. I do not gain anything from this apart from a few reviews.

A/N: This has spoilers for most of the Naruto anime episodes. I've concentrated on the filler episodes a lot. For those who don't know, the Mizuki incident takes place from episode 140 onwards and the Land of Bird arc from 160 onwards. I suggest 167 if you want to see Kakashi blush.

This is in several chapters

Iruka was sure his curiosity was going to get him killed one of these days. He was sure he was going to die a painful and lingering death, and everyone was going to cheer. But at that moment he didn't care. He was going to find the answer to a question that had been bugging the people of Konaha for a long, long time. What exactly did Hatake Kakashi hide under his mask?

So, it wasn't exactly right. Heck, it was morally wrong, but Iruka didn't care; he was finally going to take a peek under that mask even if it was the last thing he was ever going to do.

It had all started very normally when he'd decided to drop into the Konoha main hospital to refill the school's first aid kits. While it was possible to get first aid kits from just about anywhere in the village, the hospital always had a ready stock of them, and the nurses were always willing to give them out to the school kids. So he had dropped in at the entrance on his way home and…

"Iruka-sensei." The familiar voice made Iruka turn around startled, then smile when he saw the concerned face, framed with pink hair.

"Sakura," he said. "Here to visit Lee?"

"Yes." His former pupil blushed prettily before bringing up her bouquet of flowers as if to hide her face. "And Kakashi-sensei was moved to the hospital since Gai-sensei went to bring back Sasuke."

"Where did Sasuke go?" Iruka asked in concern, latching onto Sasuke's name though his stomach was fluttering at the mention of Kakashi. He did not mention that it was rather nice of Sakura to keep her love options open by bringing flowers to another boy while her main pursuit was out of town.

"He went after Itachi after he heard his brother was going to hunt for Naruto." Sakura bit her lower lip as her hand fell limply to her side; some of the flowers lost their petals at the impact with her leg. Iruka could sympathize with her, since she'd lost both her teammates in one go.

"Gai will bring him back safely," Iruka said trying to cheer her up though he did not want to even think about what Itachi could do. If he had left Sharingan Kakashi incapacitated who knows what he might be capable of. But then again, if Gai's boasts were true, he was ahead of Kakashi in their rivalry-matches, and even Sharingan probably failed to process a combination of green spandex and orange leg warmers.

"I really hope so," said Sakura as she brought up a yellow flower and absentmindedly plucked off a petal. "I don't know…" she drifted off with a shrug and then smile. "I guess I'd better go now. Lee starts his physical therapy right about now, and he's always early."

"I came to get the school first aid kits refilled," Iruka said, holding out his back pack full of empty first aid kits as if to show proof. "I might drop in on Lee afterwards," he added guiltily as he realized he had not visited Lee since the third stage preliminaries of the Chuunin exam.

"I'll tell him that," said Sakura with a small smile. "I'd better get going, Iruka-sensei," she added then was gone down the corridor, walking with a swaying gate that was very…female. Iruka blinked a little and wondered when Sakura had started to develop hips, but that thought was overrun by a large pair of breasts that were stuck in his face as the Head Nurse intercepted Iruka and his empty first aid kits.

"I hear Kakashi-sensei is here," Iruka said a little hesitantly, trying hard not to blush. It was not as if he had done anything wrong. After all, the nurse had no way of knowing that he'd been fascinated with Hatake Kakashi for a long time--- well, since he was twelve or eleven or maybe younger. Since he'd learned that the silver-haired, masked boy close to his age was ANBU. Plus he'd always had a weakness for silver haired men.

Not that he liked Kakashi or anything, he hurriedly defended himself before he could turn the shade of red that required nurses to pump oxygen into him. He had been flattered when Kakashi had told him that Naruto was hoping to grow up like his sensei. It meant that the boy regarded him as someone to look up to, and the fact Kakashi hadn't dissuaded the blond's ambition meant he thought Iruka was a good role model. Him, an insignificant school teacher whose one and only noteworthy feature was the scar across his face. Until then Iruka had been interested in Kakashi in the sort of mystery-man-with-possible-good-looks way, had crushed from a distance but would never speak to this person. It was sort of like having a crush on a movie star or a dead national hero.

Then, to Iruka's chagrin, at the Chuunin exam nominations, Kakashi had put him in his place by reminding him that the Genins were no longer Iruka's students. Indeed, while he, a mere Academy teacher, had students, the senior Jounin had subordinates. That in itself made Iruka aware of just how wide their social gap was. He had been angry at Kakashi for putting Naruto and his team in danger, but then they'd all made it through with all their limbs attached.

He realized he was standing in front of the room door, hand on the knob, wondering if he should go in or not. It was just then that he heard footsteps in the corridor and decided to slip in rather than stay and face whoever was arriving.

Which led to him standing over Kakashi, who was lying fully clothed and very still on his back, his visible eye closed. The other eye had been covered by a luminous silk scarf that probably belonged to Gai, and Iruka found the gesture rather sweet. Hatake Kakashi had been well cared for. He was clean, fully dressed down to his flak jacket; he was even wearing his metal plate gloves, and his sandals were by the side of his bed. Iruka decided not to imagine Gai doing all the washing and dressing--it was rather disturbing. Then he wondered just how close those two were.

Kakashi looked as if he was sleeping, so Iruka decided it prudent to call out just in case Kakashi did decide to wake up. When his "hello" didn't produce any visible results, Iruka wondered if he should try to draw a mustache on Kakashi the way he used to do for his sleeping classmates. But then he realized he did not know if Kakashi had a mustache in the first place. Or an upper lip for that matter, if he was inclined to listen to Naruto's speculations.

It was then he decided he was going to pull the mask down.

So before he could change his mind, Iruka moved swiftly, hooked a finger on either side and pulled it down. Then froze.

God…

Oh hell…

How old was Kakashi anyway?

Iruka knew Kakashi was older than him but with his eyes closed and his face relaxed, he looked sixteen. He looked as if he'd never shaved or needed to worry about acne.

It was a pretty face, bordering on beautiful, the type you'd expect on a girl or an Uchiha Sasuke. The only thing that saved the face from being perfect was the scar over his eye. It was a rather long scar, reaching almost to the jaw, making his mouth slightly crooked.

It was a rather kissable mouth, Iruka noted, then decided he needed to get out of there before he got it into his mind to actually kiss the comatose man. It was bad enough he'd invaded his privacy but to actually molest him would have been too much.

So Iruka hurriedly pulled up the mask, making sure it matched the tan line exactly, then exited the room faster than he'd thought was possible.

On his way back, though, Iruka started to wonder againjust how old Kakashi was and if he really had become a Chuunin at the age of six. Maybe he should look into that, he thought.

He was just curious. He was not obsessed. He was not. Really.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N- I got reviews so I had to post.

part 2

Iruka had started to avoid Kakashi, because his guilty conscience would not let him face the man without turning two shades of red and stuttering like a tongue-tied idiot. He'd tried to form half a dozen of ways of confessing his sin, but every time he met Kakashi he'd mumble something and look away. He'd even written a letter once but had thrown it away after he'd absentmindedly doodled hearts dripping blood on the margin –some of them had little kunai's stuck in them.

Not that there had been that many opportunities for Iruka to sit and talk with Kakashi, with Sasuke running away to Orochimaru and the new Hokage swearing in…and then swearing her way through office with the vocabulary of a drunken sailor. By the time things had started to settle down once more, Iruka had let his feelings stew inside until he was sure he was going to die of guilt turned septic.

It had been rather awkward between them, at least from Iruka's point of view, until the day Mizuki had decided on a prison break and Iruka had been assigned to hunt him down. He'd walked into the Hokage's office ready for anything but for Kakashi to take his hand. Iruka's heart had stopped and he'd thought he was never going to live beyond that point until Kakashi had dropped a pug onto him. A talking pug who gave Iruka a severe case of low self-esteem. The entire fiasco had escalated to the point it had become a full-fledged mission with Naruto and Kakashi's favorite nin-dog.

Afterwards, Iruka decided to own up. It had been Mizuki who'd helped him make up his mind. He had seen signs which he had ignored, and he had heard the rumors about the ninja in Mizuki's group that had died of a leg injury. Iruka had felt guilty in the end that he had looked the other way until it was too late. If he had acted when he'd had the changce, just maybe, Mizuki would not be a scrawny old man in prison. Iruka was getting tired of not facing problems. So he was going to own up to Kakashi that he'd done the unforgivable.

He had done something wrong, and it was high time he made it right, though he had no idea how. Perhaps Kakashi would force Iruka to forget what his face looked like. _Smooth, unblemished, looking so young…. _However, Iruka thought with a frown, as he remembered something unpleasant, there were no advanced jutsus for making anyone forget--though Ibiki had a heck of a lot of techniques to help people remember. Unless the copy-nin's collection of a thousand techniques included brain alteration and lobotomy.

But he'd plucked up his courage and approached Kakashi with all his good intentions and his strongest flak jacket. He found Kakashi on the top of a tree with a full view of the main gate through which he could see the backs of the three genins going off on a mission. He smiled when he saw the distinctive orange suit that could only belong to Naruto and long black hair which meant Neji. The third genin he identified as Tenten and the fourth their client who.

"Kakashi-san," Iruka said a little awkwardly. "Naruto said he was going to hunt a ghost."

"In the Bird country, no less," Kakashi said without looking up from his book. "I hope Neji doesn't get too attached to anything there."

"Really," said Iruka, guilt making him extremely touchy. "There's no need for you to make fun of that boy's bird obsession." The moment the words were out of his mouth he regretted them and had the urge to bite his tongue. Kakashi had not mentioned Neji's weakness, he had.

"What can I do for you, Iruka-sensei?" Kakashi said abruptly, his attention reverting to his little book. Iruka found it disconcerting to speak with someone who was clearly not paying attention to him.

"I…" Iruka paused and searched for the proper words. "Came to thank you for lending Pakkun to hunt for Mizuki."

"Uh," Kakashi looked up from his book, and Iruka blushed crimson and looked down at his feet. So he'd followed Kakashi all the way up a tree when he'd run into the man numerous times and could have told him on any of those occasions. Kakashi nodded and returned to his book, turning a page carefully. "How are you?" he asked casually, almost as if he was reading something off the book.

It was Iruka's turn to go "Uh." He looked up sharply at the question, but all he could see was the spiky silver hair as the jounin looked over the gate at the four dots in the distance. "I'm fine," Iruka said at a loss for anything to say.

"You were close to Mizuki," Kakashi said, his eye still fixed to the horizon. "Some say you were more than friends."

"That's ridiculous," Iruka snapped, his defenses going up as his face burned as if he was on fire. He'd had a crush on Mizuki once, but hadn't acted on it, luckily, since shortly afterwards, Mizuki had introduced everyone to his fiancé and …he'd been…a little hurt. But that had been a long time ago, and he had a new crush who was probably more dangerous than the previous one.

"I also heard your field skills were a little rusty," Kakashi continued ruthlessly. "Naruto had to take a hit to protect you."

Iruka bristled, colored and wished the tree branch they were in would absorb him quickly as nutrition. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, then snapped it shut audibly. No matter what, Naruto was Kakashi's student and he, more than Iruka, was responsible for the genin's safety. "I've been training," he said instead, not wanting to admit it but at the same time unable to keep it in. "I guess nine-year-olds don't exactly present much of a danger for me so…"

"Pakkun says you've got excellent chakra control and can detect illusions easily," Kakashi said, sounding bored.

Later on, thinking back, Iruka was sure Kakashi had meant to be nice, but at that moment, it sounded exactly like the praise he'd give to a rather dimwitted student at school.

"You know," Iruka said hurriedly, anger clouding his commonsense. "I don't really approve of your reading porn in public." It wasn't exactly a great start, Iruka realized the moment the words were out of his mouth, and he swore to himself furiously. Everyone knew Kakashi read porn in public and no one ever said anything about it. And he had gone and reprimanded as if the great Copy-Nin were one of his students. That was just brilliant. He could see his future in black and white as everyone mourned his …

"I'm just glad I was out of the academy before you became a teacher," Kakashi said with a shrug as he closed his book. "You should relax, Iruka-sensei, you look so tense."

Iruka's intestines were in knots, and he was trying hard not to squirm like Konohamaru in need of a toilet break. But he kept his face blank from long experience. He knew that if he were ever to show a shard of weakness in a class full of thirty students they'd tear him to pieces in an instant. "It's just that…" he tried to explain himself, "…I see little point in…you reading such things." He finished weakly. Now the jounin was going to be pissed that Iruka had belittled his one and only hobby or obsession.

"It's got more depth than you give it credit for," Kakashi said as he looked around at the surrounding shrubbery.

"It does?" Iruka asked, his voice tinged with disbelief.

"Oh yes," Kakashi nodded as if warming up to his theme. "Recently there has been a major change in the characters. Now the main female character is always a big-breasted blonde, and the male character's name always starts with J, and the way she screams his name when they …."

"That's very disturbing," Iruka said as he looked down at his feet, biting his lower lip to stop himself from smiling. "Do you think Tsunade reads those books?"

"Jiyaiya will be the first person to know," Kakashi said slowly, and Iruka looked from under his eyelashes to look at his companion and realized he was being studied closely by a single eye. "Although she might like the sub-plot where the main couple kills a garden snake with the help of a well-placed heel on it's head."

Iruka gave a short bark of laughter before he could stop himself. He did wonder about those books – in an academic way, of course. After Kakashi had started reading Icha Icha books, nearly everyone had shown a great deal of interest in them as well. If one of Konoha's' finest read it, there must be something in it worth reading. There was a horde of adoring females who read the book in the hope of discovering the secret to engaging Kakashi's interest.

When a student had tried to sneak his sister's copy of Icha Icha Paradise into the academy, Iruka had thrown a fit –and also thrown the student and the book out. But he'd always wondered about what was in those books. It was just that he couldn't very well ask to borrow it…could he?

He was curious.

Iruka swallowed, opened his mouth and…

"Well, Iruka-sensei," said Kakashi putting his book into his waist pouch. "I'd better be going. They've gone on ahead so they won't …"

"You're going after them to Bird country," Iruka said in surprise.

"Oh yes," Kakashi smiled gleefully. "Maybe I can scare them on the way with a …" he looked like a small boy planning to play a trick on someone. "It'll take them some time to get there…maybe two days or so…" Kakashi was childlike in some aspects, Iruka thought. Maybe that was why he felt such …such a flutter when he saw Kakashi. Not that he'd ever felt a flutter that started in his stomach and ended in his groin every time he saw Konohamaru or the rest of his students. Now that was sick.

Then there was a small flare of chakra, and Kakashi was no longer there. Iruka stood there thinking of Kakashi's childish behavior and again was reminded of just how young he had looked without his mask.

He wondered if he should look up Kakashi's age in the mission room; there was record of every jounin, but it would look strange if someone were to catch him looking that up now. He frowned, rubbing the scar on his nose absentmindedly as he thought it over.

Oh, yes, there was another way of obtaining such information. School records in the basement of the Academy, and he had access to those quite easily.

He decided to take a look at that after his mission desk shift. He was just curious, that was all.


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3

Iruka walked down the staircase ducking cobwebs and hanging wires, scowling at his own stupidity. It was Sunday; a six o clock on a Sunday afternoon when any sensible person would be at home getting some much needed rest before the start of the week. Instead, here he was trawling the basement to satisfy his curiosity. It was disheartening to see all the cabinets in the basement, arranged in some random order. There were numerous filling cabinets, most of them taller than Iruka, filling the room to capacity. It seemed, at least to the inquisitive chuunin, that in the beginning, the filling cabinets had been placed alone the wall, leaving a gab between the object and wall. However when all the wall spaces were taken up, the cabinets were dropped in some random order probably with the intention of confusing the searcher. Perhaps, Iruka thought wryly, one of these contained the location of the forbidden scroll.

The Academy basement was a storehouse of records for generations of students. There were records of just about everybody who had ever walked through its doors, be it staff, student or parent: their past papers, assessments, confiscated goods, lost and found property, wooden practice swords, a ten foot wooden pole with holes drilled in the middle….

Iruka blinked in the weak light and looked around at the sheer mountain of …stuff and wondered what had driven him to do this. It wasn't as if he'd had anything better to do since his mission shift had ended a little ahead of time. One of the junior chuunins had sounded the perimeter alarm, but in the end it was decided it was a false alarm. By then, they'd shut down the mission desk and taken their defensive positions so all they had to do was go home afterwards.

Since he had gotten off earlier than expected and Kakashi was conveniently out of the country, Iruka decided to do some cleaning in the Academy basement like any other dedicated teacher would. Not that he was afraid that Kakashi might somehow get wind of Iruka's sudden decision to go through the great Copy-nin's past school records -– he was not omniscient.

Iruka attempted to discover how the Academy files were organized. At first, he thought the files were in alphabetical order, but revised his opinion after looking through two file cabinets. Perhaps they were in order of each student's year of entry to the Academy. That theory was also dashed when he realized all the different clans had different filing sections. Who knew so many Hyuugas had passed through the Academy, or Uchihas for that matter. Not that the Uchiha file cabinet was to expand anytime soon, unless Sasuke took it into his head to reproduce…or Itachi did, which was a horrifying thought.

Did the Uchihas even know what sex was? They were the most asexual students Iruka had ever encountered, and that was saying a lot. Maybe they just copied the moves with their Sharingan and reproduced…literally.

All right, the dust was getting to him.

Irritated, Iruka stooped down to read the contents of the bottom drawer of the file cabinet he was searching and froze.

He had been a teacher far too long not to know when a spit ball or other object was aimed at the back of his head. He continued to crouch down, eyes intent on the file cabinet and at the last moment jumped sideways, using his thigh muscles and right arm.

Something heavy, large and sharp whistled though the air and landed where he had been not one second ago. The floor cracked under the weight of the blow, the filing cabinet titled to one side, and air blasted outwards from the weapon like a small explosion. Had Iruka channeled chakra into his leap as he would have usually done, his attackers would have guessed Iruka's intent and tracked his movements. Good thing he'd always used his chakra reserve sparingly.

Iruka rolled in mid-motion, cursing the filing cabinets that hampered his movements as he attached himself, feet first, to the closest cabinet. Then he dropped cautiously to the floor, landing on one knee, to make himself a smaller target. Iruka studied the man before him, his right hand was in his weapons pouch before he was even aware of it.

The enemy was definitely not from Konoha, Iruka decided, looking at the Mist forehead protector the man was wearing, using it as a tie to hold back his dark hair. He was about Iruka's age, not young enough to be strolling into enemy territory casually, and probably with some battle experience; he wore black pants, dark blue long-sleeved top, flak jacket and thigh-high boots and carried an oddly carved sword – which had made a foot-sized indent in the floor of the basement.

"I take it this is not a diplomatic mission," Iruka said dryly, trying to assess the situation. The Mist-nin had to be a jounin or even high level. No one else would dare to infiltrate Konaha._'Damn!_' Iruka thought, '_the perimeter alarm had been legitimate'_: the intruder had simply hidden himself in the least-occupied building in the whole village, and Iruka had had the luck to stumble upon him. The only break Iruka had was that the other guy was just as startled as he was.

"What are you doing here?" the Mist-nin spoke, confirming Iruka's suspicion.

"I work here," Iruka said, throwing three shurikens at the intruder before flipping back neatly. He missed the sword that flashed overhead by a good two feet, but the blast of chakra-laced air accompanying it caught him squarely in the chest, throwing him against a particularly hard file cabinet. Even as he gasped for air, Iruka managed to throw three more shurikens, buying himself enough time to dodge behind another file cabinet while practically sucking in his chakra, masking it to make himself undetectable.

He slipped between the wall and a particularly large storage cabinet, trying to assess the situation. One, the Mist-nin was extremely good at shielding his chakra, so good that Iruka had not noticed anything until the man had shown up behind him. Two, anyone who could mask himself that well had to be a highly skilled ninja.[1 Perhaps better than Kakashi at chakra control, though why Iruka was comparing the annoying guy with a big sword to the Copy-nin was beyond his comprehension.

"They make you work here on Sundays here in Konoha?" the man actually sounded amused. "What are you… the janitor?"

Iruka did not answer, knowing that to do so would betray his position, crouching down and moving forward through the gap at the back of the cabinet. There were huge spiders on webs with the tensile strength of chakra wire; Iruka, who'd always detested such creatures, had to bite his lower lip to stop himself from hissing in distaste as he crawled. He was not going to let the Mist-nin get away. It was far too dangerous, and since the general alarm was called off there'd be civilians on the road. Children playing in the last of the sunlight. He was not going to let anyone get hurt when he could stop it.

For that, he had to disarm the Mist-nin, whose strength at the moment seem to be his sword, which channeled the user's chakra in a blast of wind along with the normal blow. There was an eardrum-shattering explosion overhead, and the row of cabinets that had been covering Iruka was suddenly cut in half.

Iruka threw himself down flat on the floor, cursing as pieces of paper, metal fragments and spiders rained down on him. He was bleeding from a few scratches, and his right ear was ringing. The Mist-nin had just swung his sword in an arc around the room (by the sound of it), shearing away everything to waist height. A good strategy, but at the same time, overkill in Iruka's opinion. His enemy was strong but tended to be a little heavy handed.

Iruka thought he'd better change tactics. He had been trying to crawl until he was behind the intruder, but now he had exactly half the cover he'd had before. He got to his feet then rushed forward before the sword could cleave him in two and took cover behind another sheared-off filing cabinet. He got off unscathed, throwing two more shurikens to buy him some time to dodge. He was running out of shurikens; he did not think smoke bombs were effective against a wind weapon, and using explosive tags in a confined space was likely to blow up everything, so he was keeping that as a last resort.

The first thing he had to do was separate the sword from the user; he pulled out his kunai and leapt over the cabinet he had been hiding behind, still not channeling any chakra. The Mist-nin had been looking slightly to his left, which gave Iruka the time to swiftly throw the kunai at the man. He dodged easily, but again, Iruka had expected it. He was not the best fighter in the village, and his chakra levels were below average, but he was very aware of what he could do and knew how to use the basics effectively. After all, he'd spent over five years teaching the basics, every day to all the future geniuses of the village.

He used the opening created by the kunai throw to sprinkle the floor liberally with his makibishis. They were his own, with a piece of his hair embedded in each of the weapons, so he could find them on the ground and not step on them. Then in midair, Iruka twisted, landing on the wall next to a filing cabinet. Then he went over the seals slowly, one by one so the man watching him could see exactly where he was heading, then called out, just in case the man missed the obvious, "_Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu_."

Iruka watched the other man bring down his sword, and instead of breathing out fire, replaced his body with a filing cabinet. Idiot, did that Mist-nin think Iruka was going to use Blaze Of Glory in a confined room full of dry paper and other flammable objects? He threw a kunai at the Mist-nin and even as the next volley of chakra wind reached him, Iruka replaced his body with another file cabinet, throwing kunais at each move.

Iruka did the body replacement with cabinet move in a circular pattern, letting the intruder think he knew exactly where he was going to appear next, then instead of switching places with the cabinet next to him, he switched with the one _behind_ him, using a henge to make himself look like a cabinet. The Mist-nin automatically went through the motion of smashing the cabinets, turning in a circle as he did. The opportunity came as Iruka had planned; his enemy was facing slightly away from Iruka. If Iruka were to wait for the sword to point away from him completely, he might never get the chance. No matter how small an amount, Iruka was using chakra to keep up the illusion of looking like a filing cabinet, and he was going to be detected sooner rather than later. His enemy was a Mist-nin, not a moron, and he was going to eventually notice that his target was not switching places with cabinets.

Iruka leapt over the debris on the floor, aiming for the shoulder of the man; he had no intention of killing him, just making him drop the sword. His kunai actually hit its target but bounced back. Body amour –damn.

Iruka jumped back hastily as the sword swiped at him and then froze as the Mist-nin changed his tactics. He lifted his sword above his head, his face a mask of concentration, and Iruka could feel the massive chakra build-up – it was like waiting for a hurricane to break. The edge of the sword was glowing yellow-white, almost pulsating as the charge built up, and Iruka could see the air move around it. Iruka smiled faintly--finally the man was going to use his full strength to squash him.

The air was rotating in a small vortex overhead, the friction causing small lightning flashes. Iruka swallowed. He had to do something fast before the full power of the sword was unleashed. Iruka thought over his options. Distraction – what he needed was distraction, and for that he needed to move quickly. He pulled out his explosive tag with a scowl, wrapped it around the hilt of his kunai and leapt forward.

He threw his last kunai at the final moment, leapt aside and brought up his fingers in a familiar seal. Iruka knew Kage Bunshin no Jutsu would be more effective, but he did not have the necessary chakra reserves as Naruto did. Shadow clone technique caused the user's chakra to be divided equally among the clones he or she had created; only in Iruka's case, that would mean he would not have enough left to boost himself off a tree branch.

He created simple clones of himself. About twenty, enough to fill the room and then some. Then he used their cover to leap forward once again, bringing all his chakra into his hands, the same way he would when sticking to a surface. He was going to take some damage, but he could do it.

Iruka knew the Mist-nin had body armor; his boots probably protected his feet better than the open-toed sandals of the Konaha ninjas did, though it probably was not the best footwear for chakra concentration. The sword was the most dangerous, and the thing was coming down at him like the side of the Hokage mountain crashing down. Iruka jumped towards his enemy head on, letting the Mist-nin think he was going for a suicidal move. Then, when he was exactly in line with one of his clones, he did another simple body switch, this time transforming the cabinet to look like him and leaving all his chakra reserves there. The entire room shuddered as the sword made contact with the metal frame–the hard object which was supposed to be treated for everything from termites in the files to fire hazards but apparently not to wind-based swords as the sword cleaved through it.

But Iruka's plan held, since the sword did not go through it cleanly – instead, it stopped in the middle, stuck there by Iruka's chakra trap. Perfect--Iruka had his opportunity, he realized, even as he sailed through the air. He had been practicing-– he had told Hatake Kakashi though the man hadn't believed him. He really had been pushing his body since his last encounter with Mizuki.

He might not be as fast as Gai or even some of the other jounins, but he could move when he needed to. He aimed for the place where the Mist-nin's neck met the shoulder--there was no armor capable of covering that place, unless it was an overlapping type, and no ninja would be seen dead in an overlapping amour. It played hell with their movements.

It was not the perfect lion combo--Sasuke could keep it--but Iruka spun in mid-air, and brought the heel of his foot down hard. The sword hand shook….Iruka drove the last kunai into the hand even as he moved back. The Mist-nin let go of his sword and took a step back …and Iruka manipulated his chakra through the makibishis on the floor and held his enemy in place. He had been rather impressed that Ino had used a similar technique at the last chunin preliminary fights against Sakura. So she had been paying attention to his classes and not just worrying about flower arrangements. It was basics for any ninja to know that you can channel chakra through body parts easily--even if those parts were not attached to the body.

The intruder could move his arms, but his feet were firmly held in place by the chakra rope, and Iruka switched to close combat. He concentrated all he had into his fist. It wasn't much, but he was physically strong and could pack a heck of a right hook when needed.

Hell…he brought up his right hand, and it was blocked by a massive fist. Iruka bit back a groan as his fist was crushed in an iron grip, and the Mist-nin swung his free hand at Iruka who had to lean back to dodge. The enemy aimed lower, going for Iruka's neck and again, he had to dodge. The chuunin was aware that he had to do something fast before the Mist-nin won by shear strength alone. The man had tremendous upper body strength, probably from swinging that enormous sword. Iruka called up all the makibishis on the floor, roping them and drawing them towards him, _through_ the Mist-nin.

Shit…Iruka knew the man was going to block them. He was too fast…needed a distraction…fast….

Iruka had to call forth one of his last surprises--Naruto's specialty technique ,Sexy no jutsu. It as the only Henge he could do without using seals or voice commands.

Iruka's female version was similar to his male self – a small-breasted, long haired brunette with one important difference. She had no scar on her nose. Instead, she wore long diaphanous robes which left little to the imagination. He cringed at using such a childish jutsu, but with both hands occupied, it was the simplest he could create.

Most of the makibishis hit the amour and bounced, but some made it through. The Mist-nin shuddered slightly and a faint trickle of blood appeared in a corner of his lip. His grip faltered for a bit which was the break Iruka was waiting for. He drew back and clapped his hands over the ears of the enemy hard, forming a 100 air tight seal using his chakra so the blow was more effective. As the Mist-nin reeled back clasping his shattered ear drums, the chuunin drew back. Iruka had bought enough time, he thought, feeling pleased as he heard the familiar footsteps. Reinforcements were coming , drawn by the enemy chakra. Really, did the man think he could call up a wind storm and not draw attention to himself? Iruka smirked as he jumped back, feeling satisfied.

[1 I know Iruka is doing the same thing but he doesn't realize he does coz he's got a slight case of underestimating himself.

A/N- thank you for the reviews. I really do appreciate them.


	4. Chapter 4

A/n –this is a shortish chapter. When I poked around trying to find Iruka's age, I found out he was the only person to grow younger from the 1st to the 2nd databooks. Databook 1 sez 25; Databook 2 sez 23. Now, as a control, Kiba is listed as 12 in the first one and 13 in the second one; a good amount of time actually passed in the series from the beginning to around the Sasuke in a Bucket arc, which is covered by the second book, which explains that.

So, Naruto is 12 at the beginning of the series, so it's 12 years ago that all the crap goes down, and importantly for us, Iruka is orphaned. The two databooks are consistent that Iruka graduates the academy at 11 and becomes a chuunin at 16, but we know he was still a student when his parents were killed, because he was a cheerful little screwup in school. If we have him at 22 at the beginning of the series, he's 10 when he's orphaned, and thus has at least a year in the academy without parents before he graduates. And he's always made sense to me as young.

Kakashi is 27 in the second databook.

So, I'll stick to Iruka being around 21 or 22 in the time gap which is why he comes out a little young in this fic.

Sorry for the long explanation. I sorta cut and pasted this off straussmonster who explained it out for me.

Part 4

Iruka was sure that dying of humiliation was a possibility, even for a Konoha ninja. He tried to close his ears to the sound of laughter but failed miserably. His face was burning, his throat felt clogged, and he wished Genma would choked on his senbon and die. Really.

"….knocked out the Mist-nin with a Sexy no Jutsu," Genma managed to squeeze out before giving way to chuckles. "Had no idea they were so hard-up to be fooled by something with such small boobs…"

Iruka had, in his excitement, forgotten to dispel the illusion he had cast on himself, but that was no reason for all the other ninjas who had arrived there to make fun of him. He looked down at his feet and tried to wait it out. It wasn't bad – he'd been through worse and come out alive. So what if the others laughed at him a bit, it had been stupid of him to forget to take off the jutsu after he had used it. At least it had been only Genma and Anko who had actually seen him – though he was sure the grapevine would know all about it by the end of the day.

He tried hard not to shuffle his feet and looked around the waiting room as he stood, grateful that at least they hadn't asked him why he'd been in the school basement at six on a Sunday afternoon. They all probably thought he lived in the school or something idiotic like that. Most people did not see Iruka as anything beyond a school teacher, so anything associated with the Academy was considered pretty normal for him.

Then, much to his relief, the Hokage's office door swung open, and Izumo looked out. "Iruka-sensei, go right in. Tsunade-sama is waiting for you."

Iruka was so pissed at being made to wait outside with Genma that he'd almost said he had been the one who had been waiting not the other way around but stopped himself in time. He deliberately brushed past Genma and walked in, ignoring the other man pointedly. True, Genma was not a bad guy on most days-- they worked the mission desk together on certain days, and he had escorted Iruka to the hospital to get his cuts patched up. Still, Iruka wished he could be treated with a little respect instead of like some butterfly who grew teeth all of a sudden – a circus joke.

"You look perfectly all right for someone who took out a Mist-jounin," Tsunade said as Iruka walked inside. "Why don't you sit down, sensei."

There it was again, being treated like an invalid. If Hatake Kakashi was to stagger into the mission room with his intestines hanging out, Tsunade still would still not have offered him a chair.

"I'd rather stand," Iruka said stiffly. "Thank you."

Tsunade smiled faintly, though Iruka couldn't be sure with her hands cupped in front of her face. "Very well then, sensei," she said abruptly. "Are you hurt anywhere else apart from the obvious scratches I see on the surface."

"No," Iruka said, a little confused, as he waited for the questioning to start. Surely, she didn't think he i _lived /i _ in the Academy basement.

"Is it a family trait?" she asked instead.

"Uh!" Iruka knew he was gaping like a fish but could see no other way of reacting.

"Your ability to withstand damage," Tsunade explained briefly. "That sword was formidable, but you managed to avoid any injury apart from a few scratches. I take it you can survive almost anything other than a direct hit."

"I don't have any family traits," Iruka mumbled, looking down at his feet.

"I know," the Hokage nodded, looking down at a folder on her table, which must have contained his records. "Your mother was a civilian, first generation medi-nin and your father was a jounin –second generation. Not enough time to cultivate a family trait …and you have that…." she waved a hand at him vaguely. "Rather low chakra level, but you manage to utilize it very well. Braced yourself all over and still had some left over for a trap. An ingenious trap at that. And your hand-to hand combat skills…"

"Tsunade-sama," Iruka bit out finally, flinching at her rather teasing smile. "What exactly are you implying?"

"You've gone up in level," she said almost purred. "I was short on people to assign for field assignments." Then she looked a little thoughtful and nodded. "But I think I'd be just as happy if kids at the Academy manage to learn half of what you know."

Iruka wasn't sure if he was insulted or not. He was sure, had Kakashi or Gai taken out the Mist-nin, Tsunade would not have said anything past i "_Well done, brat_." /i The enemy had not been that formidable – Iruka had taken him out without too much of an effort, and if he, a mere chuunin, could take him out, he couldn't have been much.

"What did the enemy want?" Iruka asked instead, looking at Shizune, who had walked in just then with the pig in tow.

"We really aren't sure," Tsunade admitted, looking out the windows at the village below. It was dark, and the lights in the streets and the houses looked like stars on the ground. "Ibiki is working on it at the moment, and I do have some theories."

"What?" Iruka demanded finally when it became obvious that the conversation was not about to progress any further. "Should I be worried about more Mist-nins showing up at school at all hours?"

"There is a possibility," Tsunade said with one of her trademark smirks. "But it's highly unlikely that they want to see your naked butt anytime soon."

Iruka flushed and looked down at his sandaled feet while Shizune hissed something at the Hokage. "It wasn't… my butt, technically," Iruka mumbled out. "It was just…"

"Will you stop stuttering, child." Tsunade, it seemed, did not have time to listen him stumbling through excuses. "Anyway, we had intel that the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist were looking to fill their ranks now that some of their members are dead. There was supposed to be some sort of initiation process, and maybe infiltrating Konoha was one of them."

"And the reason he was in the Academy," Iruka said, a little irritated at being called "child". "What was he after, my lesson plans for the next three months?"

"Hopefully he was just lying low in a deserted building," the Hokage said dismissively. "If not, he could have been after the records of a suitable child to accompany him."

"Uh!" Iruka squeezed out. "What do you mean?"

"You know," Tsunade said with a shrug. "These ninjas of the Seven Swords seem to have kids accompanying them most of the time…for whatever reason. Mostly those with some special ability, underaged and abused."

"They do?" Iruka asked, thinking back over what he did know. He rarely thought of such things, since he did not normally go on missions, nor did he really believe half the exaggerated tales Naruto told him. "I see…Zabuza had Haku, Raiga Kurosuki had Ranmaru, and Kisame has Itachi."

"Actually, we hear it's the other way around," Tsunade said dryly. "If our intel is correct, Itachi has Kisame, daily…in every imaginable position, forward and backward."

Iruka was mortified. He did not want to know about the sex life of one missing-nin by the name of Uchiha Itachi.

"Makes you want to give up fish, doesn't it?" The old woman was enjoying his discomfort. Iruka wondered faintly if Kisame's favorite dish was fish or something similar. "We're doubling our guard and keeping ourselves on alert from now on," the Hokage said briskly as she changed tack. "I do wish the Hatake-brat would come back from the Bird country. We could use him here right now."

At the mention of Kakashi, Iruka was forcibly reminded as to why he had been in the academy basement, as he blushed once more and looked down. "If that is all…" he said weakly.

"You can go," Tsunade said dismissively, pulling out a file from the pile on her table, losing interest in Iruka. However, as Iruka turned to go, he heard the papers rustle behind him, and the blonde spoke. "You know, sensei, we do keep students records for our reference in the room in a red file behind the mission report cabinet," she said softly. "I hear the filing is done a little differently there."

Iruka squeezed out a small squeak which might have meant anything from "Thank you" to "Good night" then practically ran out of the office.


	5. Chapter 5

Peeking- part 5

The gossip network in Konoha was more up to date than the ANBU intelligence. There was always something to be talked about, no matter how trivial.

Toki-sama was apparently the Daimyo of the Bird country who had paraded around as her dead twin brother who was pretending to be a Samurai ghost. She was supposed to be heart-stoppingly beautiful, capable and…did the report mention beautiful? She was also supposed to have made the Copy-nin Kakashi blush without even looking at him, and she had been fully clothed.

It was definitely true, since the person who had reported it back had been TenTen, and Neji (yes, the Hyuuga boy) had confirmed it. (Naruto had also been there but it was well known that the boy didn't notice anything unless it was covered in ramen.) While it would have been nice to confirm the news from the source itself, Hatake Kakashi was nowhere to be found, and the only person available, Maito Gai (last seen doing a hundred laps around the village on his hands), had been rather miffed that anyone suspected his students told anything but the truth.

On a less interesting note, Academy teacher Umino Iruka had enticed a foreign ninja to the school basement on a Sunday and knocked him out with a Sexy-no-Jutsu. The poor ninja had to be escorted out by a couple of jounin.

"I'm aware it was for the sake of the village," Iruka said through gritted teeth. "But did you have to distort the facts that much? I would like to have some dignity left, you know. Everyone thinks I tried to seduce some poor idiot in the school basement, and he fainted from shock,"

"But just to let you know, Iruka sensei, we really do appreciate this sacrifice you are making," Genma said, leaning against the mission table. "And if it makes you feel any better, most of the ninjas know what happened. It's just the civilians we're afraid will panic if they know that someone made it through the guards into the village."

"It's a good thing I didn't have much of a personal life, since I'm ruined for good, you know," Iruka groaned. "Not that people think I'm a pervert or anything. I've just had a lot of friendly offers because of this stupid story because they're feeling sorry for me."

"What friendly offers?" Genma leered and leaned forward, interested, but Iruka waved him away.

"My shift is almost over, and I do have papers to grade. Now if you'll excuse m, Genma-san, I have thirty essays from a class of six-year-olds who just learnt how to handle kunais without stabbing each other." He got up, pushing back his chair, and signed.

"Did you hear the other rumor that's going around?" Genma asked, ignoring Iruka's efforts to walk around him. "About Kakashi…"

"I heard," Iruka spat out, feeling a little disheartened. He was actually ashamed of himself for his actions. He had fed Naruto ramen the previous night with the intention of pumping the boy for information -–not that it had proved very fruitful. Naruto remembered very little of what Toki-sama had looked like but managed to recount his heroic adventures in the Bird country twice in a very loud voice while consuming sixteen bowls of ramen, which had been a new record.

Not that he wanted to know about the female who had shaken the unshakable.

"Wonder what she looks like," Genma said thoughtfully while his senbon bobbed up and down. "This Toki-sama."

Iruka had been wondering the same thing. "It's none of my business," he said blushing faintly. "Now, weren't you supposed to meet up with Asuma to help demonstrate the use of projectile weapons to his afternoon class?"

Genma swore, looked at his watch then the position of the sun outside and swore again. Then he jumped out the window and started to run towards the Academy building, leaving Iruka feeling slightly pleased. But that feeling did not last for long as he pushed aside the collected mission logs and pulled out his homework scrolls which he was taking home with him. Once, his father had told him it was bad form to bring your job home. Your job was limited to office hours, and the rest was reserved for his family. But, Iruka though wryly, it seemed as if his job was his family.

He had to write up the mission reports about the Mist-nin attack, and he had to do it soon, since it did not even count as an official mission. He knew from experience just how hard it was to file those, because they were submitted to extra levels of approval. Then there were the test papers to grade and the essays to read from a class where most students were ignorant as to why they should keep their weapons clean.

He pushed back his chair, ignoring Anko, who had walked in, having a rather loud argument with Kurenai about something which sounded suspiciously like effective birth control. Iruka collected all his paperwork before the two females could rope him into the conversation and practically jumped out the window in his hurry to get away. He was out of the mission room and had walked almost two blocks before he became aware that he was not alone.

Iruka turned carefully and looked at the person who was keeping pace with his brisk walk by taking long strides and therefore maintaining the illusion of strolling casually. Iruka stopped, and the person pacing him also stopped but did not look up from the little orange book he was reading.

This time, Iruka noted absentmindedly, the book had a red border and a picture of a skimpily dressed woman with a chest to rival that of the current Hokage's kicking a rather lumpy-looking man between his legs.

"Hatake-san," Iruka said politely. "Can I help you with something?"

"How are you Iruka-sensei?" The same question he had asked Iruka when Iruka had approached him on the tree.

"I'm fine, thank you," Iruka replied in the same tone "Is there anything I can help you with other than informing you of my general well being?"

"I'm…" Kakashi paused as he marked the place he was reading, closed the book and put it into his back pocket. "I'm…" He paused again, as if looking at something over Iruka's right shoulder.

"You're stalling for time," Iruka said, a little peeved. Kakashi was behaving like one of his students who had not done his homework and was desperately trying to find an excuse. "I have work to do and a mission report to finish, so if you cannot come up with a suitable reason…"

"I'm heading up a follow-up investigation," Kakashi said as Iruka stopped his tirade to breathe. "About the Mist-nin attack. If you come with me and show me exactly how it took place…"

"We don't usually do that sort of thing," Iruka said suspiciously.

"Enemy-nin in the village," Kakashi said causally. "New policy."

"Oh," said Iruka, a little stumped. It was not as if he could question his senior about his actions, and he could not think of a reason as to why Kakashi would want to spend more time with him than necessary, but still… "Why you?" the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"I have the Sharingan," Kakashi said without missing beat. "Tsunade-sama said I should check to make sure there weren't any left over traps or traces…"

Iruka sagged a little. He was tired, and he needed a shower, but what Kakashi said also made sense. They had no idea how long the enemy nin had been in the basement, and if there were any traps left for some unsuspecting and over curious student to get caught in…"I'll show you where he was hiding," Iruka agreed.

"You need to come," Kakashi said with a faint smile…or rather, his visible eye crinkled. "I have to erase your chakra signature to see which is yours, and it would be easier if you were there."

"Sure," said Iruka, giving his bundle of scrolls a squeeze, wondering why he had not stuffed them into his backpack before leaving. He had no idea how the Sharingan worked, and since the Copy-nin was a jounin, he was in no position to argue. "Uh…it's this way…"

"I know where the Academy is, Iruka sensei."

"Yes," Iruka mumbled, blushing scarlet. "The basement is…" he paused and then finished weakly. "…also this way."

Thankfully, it was a short walk, with Kakashi paying attention to their surroundings rather than to Iruka, which was a relief. He was sure he would spontaneously combust if he suddenly became the center of attention of the only Sharingan user in the entire village.

"Those look heavy," Kakashi said all of a sudden. "I could help you…"

"What," said Iruka startled. "These…" he looked at the scrolls in his hand and shook his head. "No…they're not heavy. I'm fine…thank you…" and promptly dropped half his bundle on the ground.

He froze; he was sure, had he stooped down to pick up what he had dropped, he would have wound up bumping heads with the other nin. Kakashi calmly stooped down and picked up the scrolls and instead of putting them back into Iruka's hands, stuffed them into his side pocket. They were getting a little crumpled, but Iruka did not complain, feeling embarrassed by his clumsiness.

It had been nice of Kakashi not to mention it, when Iruka himself had been behaving so badly, trying to go through Kakashi's personal records and even peeking under the mask. Iruka was going to confess once this investigation, whatever it may, be, was over. He'd invite Kakashi to dinner and then confess. Maybe the Copy-nin would not feel too bad about Iruka if he'd been fed. (Well, it worked for Naruto.) Iruka was still wondering where to take Kakashi to dinner when they reached their destination.

The building was deserted, most of the student having gone home. In the practice yard around the corner, he could hear the sound of targets being decimated by students in the advanced class, held by Asuma.

Iruka decided it would be prudent to avoid everyone else as he unloaded his scrolls into his locker in the deserted staff room and lead Kakashi down the steps to the basement. They walked down one after another, Iruka aware that he was starting to breathe too hard. He stopped as he reached the bottom step and took in the carnage; the file cabinets with their top halves cleaved off, records of students an unsalvageable mess on the floor – He sighed.

"Is something the matter, sensei?" Hot breath fanned his neck

Iruka yelped and jumped, startled. He had no idea Kakashi had been so close. "I…" Iruka stammered and moved forward. "I'll be in the other room assessing the damage. If you need me for anything…just give me a shout."

He scampered into an adjoining room before Kakashi could say something about his abilities as a chuunin and gasped in relief when he was alone. The room he had blindly dashed into turned out to be a disused storage room where confiscated material had been dumped. There were boxes along the wall, on the floor and even on some old three-legged tables. There was enough dust for Gaara to carry around in a gourd, should he decide to switch to dust from sand, but it did not deter Iruka from exploring. Some of the open boxes were filled with things Iruka was familiar with; boomerangs, acid bombs, hiccupping power bags, fake boobs, paint spray and expired vomiting pills.

Iruka had also been a school troublemaker, and, unlike Naruto, he had not been easily caught. Iruka thought fondly of his Academy days as he traversed the room, looking at all the cardboard boxes stacked against the walls, wondering what was in them. He tried prodding them experimentally, then walked over to the far wall and tried to see what was in the top box.

"Iruka-sensei." Iruka swore, jumped and wondered how Kakashi had managed to get so close to him. He whirled around, flustered, aware that he had somehow gotten cobwebs in his hair and on his clothes. And why did the annoying jounin have to sneak up on him the moment he was facing the wall?

"Kakashi-san," Iruka breathed and then coughed as he inhaled some dust. "Finished with your ...er…investigation?"

"Only a few more details to iron out," the Copy-nin said, sounding rather joyful. "That trap you cast with your chakra…how do you undo it?"

"You absorb the chakra back into you," Iruka said casually, wondering what Kakashi was going for.

"But you can do that only if it's your own chakra," Kakashi said, looking amused. He leaned forward as he spoke, stepping into Iruka's personal space and Iruka had to fight the urge to step back. "What if you were caught in an enemy trap like that?"

It was irritating, the way the man was cornering him, and Iruka decided to stand his ground. "You just have to be clever enough not to get caught in it," Iruka snapped. He used his chakra trap more as a way of subduing hyperactive students than in actual combat. He did not see why Kakashi was so interested in it in the first place. "If you'll excuse me…"

Iruka faltered as Kakashi took another step forward. He was practically standing on Iruka's feet. Kakashi smelled nice. Herbal soap, lime from the fabric softener, clean dogs and something elusive which Iruka just couldn't place. While Iruka smelled like…

"What is that smell?" Kakashi asked softly, and Iruka wanted to sink into the floor.

Iruka was very aware of how he smelled. He was sweaty from a hard day of work, and in the morning a kid from the kindergarten had thrown up on his sandals. Though he had washed it away, he was sure the scent lingered, and the jounin, like any ninja with well- honed senses, must be aware of it, if Iruka could smell Kakashi

"Your…shampoo…" Kakashi asked, ignoring Iruka's attempts to move backwards. What do you use?"

"I…" Iruka made a feeble attempt to move past the man who was standing almost chest to chest with him and failed. Kakashi was standing so close he could see the iris in his visible eye, the silver hair falling over the head gear and the mask which looked pretty flimsy close up. The fabric of the mask was almost transparent, probably to help fight the heat and to allow the wearer to breathe. Iruka could see the fine mesh of the weave and if he squinted, the gleam of skin through the small gaps. He could see the outline of those lips as he stood there, their height difference of three inches was irrelevant when they were standing so close. Iruka opened his mouth, licked his lips and swallowed.

"Shampoo," Kakashi prodded, even as he leaned slightly forward.

Oh god. "Uh," Iruka tried to speak coherently. So close. He was going to whimper. "Something Naruto recommended." He managed to speak at last. "I can't remember its name…" _He couldn't remember his own name_ "…but I'll get back to you later with it."

"Can I…" Kakashi paused, inhaling softly. This close, Iruka could see the mask indent when he spoke, and his knees felt week.

"Yes…" he breathed out, his voice sounding like Hinata's. _I'm never going to blame Hinata for fainting every time she sees Naruto,_ Iruka thought furiously. _I know how it feels._

"…see your Sexy-no-Jutsu."

"What!" Iruka squeaked.

"Come now, Iruka sensei," Kakashi spoke in a normal voice. "You know I need to eliminate all the chakra signature from the room, and if I can just see your technique…" The visible eye with it's drooping eyelid was almost pleading, and Iruka could not have refused in any case.

"S…sexy-no-jutsu," he said in a breathless voice and felt the "poof" of transformation.

Kakashi stepped back. He titled his head sideways and studied Iruka carefully. Then his eye smiled. "Thank you, Iruka-sensei," Kakashi said and teleported away.

Iruka froze in the dust-covered room, staring at the empty space, mouth slightly open, as the white smoke dispersed away.

"Uh," he said, unable to comprehend what had happened. He took a step forward – or rather tried to and froze. He couldn't move. Iruka moved his shoulders and leaned forward. What!. Oh!. That bastard!

Kakashi had used Iruka's own trap of chakra to glue him to the boxes lining the room while Iruka had been too distracted to notice. He couldn't believe it. The …that…white haired…no good…think, teacher, he did not use swear words…had used Iruka's own trap on him and left.

Once his mind cleared enough for him to stop struggling, Iruka shimmied out of his flak vest, which was the only thing attached to the box and then tugged the flak vest loose.

plop

The bastard, and here Iruka had been thinking about how to apologize. As if Iruka was ever going to do that now. He was so humiliated he would never be able to face Kakashi again and that man…plop Something orange landed on his foot.

Iruka looked down at the object and frowned. At first he assumed Kakashi, in his hurry to leave, had forgotten his book. But looking closer, he noticed that it had a different cover than the one he had observed that…bastard…reading. (Now, he really understood Naruto's need to call Sasuke bastard.) Then another book fell and another and…

Iruka was staring at a hole in a box which he had made when he'd pulled his flak vest loose. (Now, he had pieces of cardboard stuck with chakra to the back of his best flak vest.) Inside the box was a collection of confiscated books-- Icha Icha books. Thousands of them…ok, not a thousand …about fifty or sixty, some of them really old.

Iruka made to put them back into the box and frowned. Know your opponent, Iruka had always taught his students. He was going to get Kakashi for what he'd just done and to do that, Iruka had to know everything about him, including his reading tastes. Feeling slightly guilty, Iruka picked up a couple of books and tucked them into various pockets in his uniform.

This was going to be a long night. He had papers to grade, a mission report to write and cardboard to remove from his flak jacket.

The next day, on his way to school, Iruka stopped Genma, who was on his way to meet Raidou, and asked about a follow-up investigation into the Mist-nin attack and was met with a blank look. However, Genma was more that happy to share the latest gossip.

According to the rumor mill, Umino Iruka had taken Hatake Kakashi, the Copy nin, down to the Academy basement after school hours to show off his Sexy-no-Jutsu. Sharingan Kakashi had confirmed that the chuunin's female version was very similar to Toki-sama, the Daimyo of the Bird country. The one who had made Hatake Kakashi blush.


	6. Chapter 6

Part 6

"Good morning, Iruka-sensei." The speaker sat on the windowsill looking into the classroom and regarding Iruka with a single eye as Iruka revised his notes in anticipation of his students.

"You!" Iruka spat, standing up, anger giving way to humiliation which gave way to anger again. "How dare you show your face after what you did to me, you….you…" There could be students in the front yard playing, and many of them had sharp ears; they always heard what they were not supposed to hear, so Iruka did not want to call Kakashi something unspeakable only to have parents complain about him the next day.

"What did I do?" Kakashi had the nerve to look innocent as he fished out his orange book, which made Iruka remember his own stash of Icha Icha books at home.

"You not only glued me to a box in the basement, you actually went around telling people I led you down to the school storage for some perverted rendezvous with you," Iruka yelled as he pushed back his chair and walked towards the irritating jounin, who was still seated on the windowsill.

"Oh, how are you today, Iruka-sensei?" Kakashi asked, with the air of having suddenly remembered his manners.

"How dare you ask me something so ridiculous after what you've done," Iruka ground out, striding towards the Copy-nin. That's it, the man's days were numbered. "You'd better have some excuse for what you did to me you…perverted…"

"You did come down with me and show me your Sexy-no-jutsu," Kakashi said, as if it was the most reasonable thing in the world. "I just told a couple of people who interpreted it the way they wanted."

"Thank you very much." Iruka practically hit the annoying man. "With the current rumor going around about me seducing foreign ninjas, all I need is something like that to boost my ego." He knew the person Kakashi had spoken to was Raidou, who had told Genma, who had told…well…just about everyone in the whole village. People who live in hidden villages were extremely good at unearthing other people's secrets-- maybe it was in their blood or the training they underwent as kids.

"Did you undo the trap, sensei?" Kakashi asked almost insultingly, but when Iruka looked closely, he could see that the silver-haired man was serious. More serious than he had thought possible.

"Yes, I had to, no thanks to you," Iruka said with a scowl. He had stayed up half the night channeling his chakra to his finger tips then working it under the foreign chakra which had glued the cardboard to his flak jacket. It had been an eye-opening experience; Iruka had finally mastered the art of breaking down another person's chakra sufficiently to absorb it into his body.

"It's important to know how to undo a trap as well as to set it up," Kakashi said in a grave voice, and Iruka looked up, startled. The tone was a mixture of something –- satisfaction and admonition. Iruka knew he should be angry, but he was stunned by the fact that what Kakashi had told him was correct. And what the senior ninja had said was true; it was something so basic that Iruka had overlooked it in his anger. If you set a trap you should know how to disable it as well. What Kakashi had done was spring a variation of his own trap, and he had been caught in it. Served him right for overlooking the obvious.

"I think you've learned your lesson, sensei," the jounin said, then stood up on the windowsill and closed his book, which Iruka was sure he hadn't read, but had simply opened for show. "Be strong, Iruka-sensei; be strong enough to stay alive."

The tone was utterly serious, and Iruka faltered. When he looked up, the visible eye was hooded, and he couldn't read the expression, but he was touched. For someone like Kakashi to say that to him meant something, Iruka was sure. At least the Copy-nin cared if he was alive and breathing.

Then Kakashi pushed his book into his pocket, and he looked up at Iruka, a goofy smile on his face--well, eye crinkling in what Iruka supposed was a smile--then fished out a few crumpled pieces of paper which he handed over to Iruka. "Here you go."

"Uh," said Iruka taking the papers automatically. "What exactly is this?"

"Your essays," Kakashi said with a smile. "I even graded them."

"My essays," Iruka said, a little mystified as he opened a crumpled paper and looked at it. Oh…the essays he had been meaning to grade the previous day. He remembered that he had dropped a few on to the ground and Kakashi had picked them up. Then in the aftermath he had all but forgotten that he had not got them back. He flattened one of the pieces of paper on a table with some difficulty; it looked as if Kakashi had crumpled it up as if to throw it into the waste paper basket after he had scribbled over it with a red, felt-tipped marker. And for good measure, drawn a big red cross across it and written in bold letters, "**You fail**." Iruka could practically taste his anger as he lifted his head. "Kakashi-sensei, I would hardly call this grading …" He was talking to thin air. Damn that man.

Then before he could jump out the window and run after Kakashi, the students came streaming in, and Iruka had to rein back his homicidal impulses. Not that his class didn't deserve them, in their own way.

The weather was unusually warm, which in turn meant the students were restless. Konohamaru managed to disrupt the class five times, once by pouring a bottle of green-glow over the youngest Hyuuga offspring, Ami. The fight which followed ensured that the whole of maths and half of chakra control were over by the time the two had been separated. In the end, Iruka dragged the former Hokage's grandson into a corner of the staff room to berate him for his actions and to make sure he was all right.

"Why in the world did you do that to her?" Iruka asked in exasperation. "The last thing I need is Hyuuga Hiashi complaining to the Hokage that I don't pay enough attention to my students." While Hyuuga Ami was a child of a branch family, as the head of the entire family, Hyuuga Hiashi had the right to intervene on her behalf. And it seemed that he did, at frequent intervals. Iruka was sure that this was his way of making up for putting Neji through a lot of angst, but still, that man could use some lessons in self-control.

"But she noticed me, didn't she, Iruka sensei?" Konohamaru said in a gleeful voice which was completely the opposite of his appearance. The Hyuuga's were not the most feared clan of Konaha for nothing, and Ami's gentle fist technique was quite good-- even if she did not have full control of her bloodline heritage.

Iruka frowned as he knelt in front of the boy. He was behaving irrationally, well, more irrationally than usual. "Do you feel dizzy?" he asked, concerned. "I don't think she's old enough to activate her Byakugan, so your chakra pathways should be all right."

"She saw me, right?" Konohamaru jumped up and down in excitement.

"You certainly got her attention," Iruka said with a scowl, straightening up. "Go to the nurse's office, Konohamuru. I want a note from her saying you're all right, and I want it in fifteen minutes. Remember, don't get lost in the corridors."

"It's pathetic, isn't it?" Shikamaru said from the spot in the corner where he had been lounging.

"What is?" Iruka asked, turning around and smiling at his former student, though the last thing he felt like at that moment was smiling.

"Having a crush," Shikamaru said shortly. Apparently speaking in long sentences was far too troublesome for him.

"You have a crush on someone?" Iruka inquired in surprise at the turn of the conversation. He wondered if the laid-back youth had finally realized that Temari did not volunteer to teach at the Konaha academy because she had nothing better to do.

"No." Shikamaru straightened and pushed back his hair which was, according to the Academy staff, starting to resemble Iruka's. "That little brat who was here just now has a crush on the Hyuuga girl--has to be if he's trying so hard to get her attention."

"But," said Iruka stunned. "He is a monster when he's with her. He throws spit balls, he sets fire to her scrolls and today…you should have seen her hair."

"That's love," Shikamaru shrugged. "He's just trying to get her attention."

"That sort of love I can live without," Iruka said with a frown, as he walked towards the door. He had at least twenty minutes of class time left, and then he needed to head off to the mission desk. He was busy – he did not have time to dwell on such trivial things as crushes between the class clown and a bloodline genius.

But as he sat in his usual place at the mission desk, Iruka wondered about it. Had Kakashi's actions in the basement been intended to get his attention? But Kakashi was an adult, and adults usually did not act as if they were seven years old…but the silver-haired jounin had a childish temperament. Then again, Kakashi never paid any attention to him, apart from asking how he was every time they met. What did that mean? And telling him to be strong enough to stay alive. That counted as well, didn't it?

"Excuse me, Genma," Iruka called over to the next desk, when the missions for the day were handed out. "Are you sure there was no follow-up investigation to the Mist-nin attack, conducted by Hatake-san?"

"Come now, Iruka," Genma said with a flash of teeth and a bob of his senbon. "No need to call Kakashi, Hatake-san. After all you two did spend some quality time together…"

"Really," Iruka growled in annoyance. "Just tell me, was he or was he not…"

"Well," said Genma flashing another annoying smirk enjoying the moment "No."

"But why did he tell me that he was," Iruka wondered aloud.

"That's Kakashi," Raidou said from his perch on Genma's desk. "He always lies."

"But why would he even bother with me?" Iruka wondered aloud. "And it's only been recently."

"Why are you so worried about it?" Genma asked, sounding amused. "It's no big deal. Maybe he likes you, maybe he doesn't. He could have been bored and heard you took out a Mist-nin and thought to see it with his own eyes. He's supposedly always interested in new techniques."

"But…"Iruka said weakly. Someone inquiring about his health sporadically did not amount to declarations of undying love.

"Everyone forgets he's a bloody genius," Raidou said from his perch casually. "I don't exactly know how the Sharingan works, but from what I can glean, it lets you follow the movements of anyone closely."

"And see left over chakra," Izumo added, walking in looking tired. They all smiled at him sympathetically, since it was obvious he'd had a hard day. Tsunade had thrown both her chair and table out of her office window in a fit of whimsy, and it had been up to Izumo and Kotetsu to carry them back up.

"So," said Iruka, slightly confused as to where he was going with this.

"But it's up to the user to be able to remember what he sees," Genma finished with a flourish.

No one had accused Iruka of being slow on the uptake. "So he has to remember all the hand seals for the thousands of techniques correctly," he concluded. "So what you mean is he's very intelligent."

"Gai-sensei was impressed that Sasuke could match Lee's speed, move for move when he fought against Gaara in the finals of the chuunin exam," Izumo added. "He said for the Uchiha to move that well, he must have trained extremely hard. And for someone to train him that well, the trainee must be able to move like that as well."

"No surprise there," Genma said. "Everyone knows Gai had chosen Kakashi as his rival so …"

"Though it doesn't seem that way, Kakashi must be as fast as Gai," Iruka concluded. "But has anyone seen him do anything apart from read his books?"

"We wouldn't really know," Genma said with a shrug. "Most of the people who worked with Kakashi as jounin or as ANBU are dead. He may be our age, but he's technically from the older generation."

"So, did he really become a chuunin at six?" Iruka asked eagerly.

"Don't know for sure," Izumo said with a shrug. "It's probably mentioned in his records somewhere. Or you could ask him the next time you meet him."

"I don't think we are on such good terms," Iruka said weakly thinking, '_the records again.'_

"Then why all the sudden interest in him?" Genma asked shrewdly.

"Because …he told everyone I led him into the school basement to…" Iruka said weakly. It did sound like a pitiful excuse when he thought about it. He never was a good liar.

"It certainly got your attention, didn't it?" Izumo sounded amused. Iruka opened his mouth to deny it but frowned and kept quiet instead, remembering Shikamaru's words, _"That's love__ He's just trying to get her attention."_

"You can just ask him the next time you meet," Raidou joined in. "After all, if you can show him your sexy-no-jutsu, such a thing should be simple."

"I don't even know if I'll run into him anytime soon," Iruka protested, knowing his friends were maneuvering him into a tight corner.

"You can ask him when he comes to hand over the mission report," Genma said with a wink.

"You mean he still hasn't handed it in?" Iruka asked with a grimace. Kakashi was notoriously late at everything, so they always kept an extended deadline for him, but he was late even by those standards.

"Tell you what," Izumo said in what sounded like a wave of inspiration. "He had another mission from Tsunade, so I'll send him a message. He can come to the mission desk, and you can refer him to the office. And while you do that, you can ask him why he did whatever he did to you." The tone said he thought Iruka was making a mountain out of a mole hill but Iruka also knew to refuse now would lead to further speculation.

"All right," he said weakly and hoped that by the time Kakashi walked into the mission room, either he would be off duty or everyone would have forgotten about this conversation. Well, that was technically impossible, since those present were ninjas trained in both body and mind, but still, he could hope.

"Well, then," said Izumo with a shrug. "I'm off for the day. Going to grab a drink with Kotetsu then head home."

"Do you think the rumor about him and Kotetsu are true?" Genma wondered aloud after the chuunin had disappeared.

"Don't you dare," Iruka said hurriedly. While Genma was doing his obligatory mission shift week, Izumo and Kotetsu were stuck permanently in office duty. "People just believe that because those two are always together at work ...and it's not like Tsunade ever gives them time to socialize."

"True," Raidou agreed with a smile. "If Kotetsu was a potted plant that Izumo carried around people would still think those two were together."

"I don't think that makes any sense," Genma said as he stood up, looking at the big wall clock. He left work exactly on the dot whenever possible, and Iruka knew Genma was just counting the days until he could go on ordinary missions. "Well, I'm off for the day as well."

"And I think I should go," Raidou said with a glance at the clock. "Have a date with Anko tonight, so I should at least put something on other than my uniform."

"Coming, Iruka-sensei?" Genma asked as he put aside the mission reports they had received for the day.

"Uh," said Iruka, blushing slightly, since he had decided to do something which was slight unethical. "You two go ahead. I'll file these and mark some essays here before going home."

"You should get a life," Raidou said as he and Genma headed for the door. While Iruka did not stay late that often, it was not so unusual that they would call the ANBU squad to investigate.

"I know," Iruka said softly as the other two left, closing the mission room door behind them. Once he was sure they were out of sight, Iruka locked it from the inside for good measure then made his way to the door with the fire seal on it. He removed the seal easily; Sandaime had made sure Iruka had the highest possible clearance when accessing files, and Godaime and not bothered to alter his clearance level. Once in the room, he sighed with relief. Alphabetically ordered ledgers filled the room in neat wall-to-wall shelves. Finding Hatake Kakashi was a breeze.

The file had everything from his school records to his present status, which made it as thick as the Konaha rule and regulations bible. First were his school records, and Iruka was stumped. Kakashi had been both every teachers dream and nightmare. A student so eager and intelligent he would learn everything taught to him in a matter of seconds; so intelligent that he would surpass his teacher in no time. His grades were excellent, and he had zapped through Academy faster than anyone else in the history of Konoaha. The only person he could compare Kakashi's intelligence to was Itachi, and even the former Uchiha heir did not seem to come close.

Iruka remembered going through Itachi's file when he was told Sasuke was going to be in his class. Itachi had been a legend in Konoha, and Iruka, worried he might have a student more intelligent than himself in class, had called up the school records through Sandaime and gone through them.

Itachi had been good. Better than, Sasuke who was more of a hardworking student than a genius. Kakashi, it seemed, fell into the second category. Someone with an extraordinary aptitude for learning and for fighting, a chuunin at six and a jounin a year later. Then ANBU after the death of his father, despite his jounin sensei's intervention.[2

His file read like a nightmare on some points, and Iruka cringed even as he ploughed through it. Surely with Yondaime as his sensei, Kakashi could not have done such things-- not taken on such missions. Iruka felt horrible, reading such things--he had no right, but really, there was no way he could put down the dossier. It was fascinating, sometimes repulsive, sometimes shocking, but still, it was spellbinding. By the time he'd skimmed it to the end, it was well into the night and his back and neck were aching from reading such small print in the muted yellow glow of two candles.

Iruka replaced the file in it's place, resealed the room, locked the mission room and headed out, his stomach rumbling, reminding him that he should get something to eat. He ran a hand over his face to get into focus and absentmindedly felt his pockets to see if he had loose change enough for a bowl of ramen when…

"Working late, Iruka-sensei?" Iruka was a well-trained chuunin who did not squeal when startled, but it was a near thing.

"K…Kakashi-sensei," he said weakly, coloring as he remembered the despicable thing he had done. "I… didn't see you."

"Ah," said Kakashi as if Iruka had said something interesting. "How are you Iruka-sensei?"

"A little tired," Iruka said with a shrug. "I think I'll…"

"Care for a bowl of ramen?" Kakashi asked out of the blue, making Iruka stare.

"What?" he said to make sure he had heard correctly. His crush had just invited him to eat out.

"Food?" Kakashi repeated as if the chuunin was slow-witted.

Iruka blushed and looked down at his feet. He was hungry, and he had been contemplating food. Perhaps, if they had time to sit and eat, then maybe he could confess his sins to Kakashi; that he had seen his face and had read his personal files. Iruka knew what he had done was wrong, and to someone like Kakashi who valued his privacy, his crush notwithstanding. He could not continue to live with himself with such things weighting down his conscience.

"There is a new place downtown," Iruka said, knowing that Ichiraku would be crowded at that time of night, and he needed some peace and quiet it he was to confess. "I've been meaning to go there …they serve drinks with their meals."

"Fine," said Kakashi sounding surprised that Iruka had agreed to eat with him. "Lead the way, sensei."

The new place was not crowded; it was a large basement converted into a bar with a couple of tables pushed near the walls to make room for a stage in the middle. All the lights were focused on the stage, leaving the rest of the room in semi-darkness, which Iruka considered a blessing. He looked around warily, just in case he ran into Raidou and his date, but they were nowhere to be seen. He supposed that Anko probably liked to eat somewhere a little more –boisterous.

They chose a table at the back of the room, and Iruka wondered if Kakashi had chosen the dark corner because he valued his privacy or he wanted to be alone with Iruka. The food, when it arrived, was nothing spectacular but edible. They were given a choice of either alcoholic beverages or soft drinks and they both ordered something non-alcoholic.

"Uh, thank you for inviting me," said Iruka, watching Kakashi twirl his chop stick the same way Genma did his senbon. As he watched those dexterous fingers move, he tried hard to forget what he had read about Kakashi in his personal file.

_He went on ANBU missions when non-ANBU were required to serve the village. His first assignment in ANBU had been to kill a drug dealer from the neighboring __S__ilk country. The man was well__-__guarded and extremely paranoid; there did not seem to be any weak points in his security apart from one obvious fl__a__w. He had a weakness for small boys__--the__ younger the better. And Kakashi had been sent in as an assassin – disguised as __the__ son of a poor village trying to earn some extra money. He had killed his mark by showing a senbon up his nose into his brain. _

"It's all right," Kakashi said as if trying to find the right words. "Eating alone can be tiresome."

"I would agree with you if you actually ate some of your food," Iruka pointed out. "Should I look away so you can pull down your mask?"

Kakashi laughed at that. "Are you always this direct, sensei?"

"I'll just go and get us more drinks," Iruka said, standing up. "I'll take my time coming back."

As he walked towards the bar, Iruka wondered if telling Kakashi he had seen his face was a good idea. Especially since they were sort of relaxed with each other. If he were to confess, he might break the amicable mood between them. He did not truly know how the older man would react to such a revelation. Most ninja's by nature had some quirk of their own, and the higher in status they were, the weirder the quirk. For all he knew, Kakashi could go into a homicidal rage and cut him into… all right, that was Itachi, not Kakashi, but the names sort of rhymed.

It was stupid, Iruka thought, as he carried back their drinks. He was not scared of Kakashi as such, just worried as to how he might react. He was trying so hard not to remember the dossier but still…

_The maximum period of service for an ANBU was five years. Afterwards they were given leave__ of__ up to three years__ then if they wanted to or if the village was in dire need, roped back into service. Kakashi had been the youngest ANBU operative ever__ and he had served for ten years consecutively, voluntarily. _

_Most ANBU had __breakdown__s, some in private, some public__ but __always__ recorded. The ANBU handlers' main worry had been that Kakashi had never broken down; which meant he was very good__ had hid__den__ it or worse, he was bottling it up. So, at the end of his __tenth__ year as ANBU__ Sandaime had stepped in and forcibly removed him from the ANBU ranks._

"Here you go," Iruka said, placing the drinks on their table, noting with slight amusement that Kakashi's bowl was empty.

"Thank you," said the masked ninja, taking the glass and drinking from it – through the mask. "So, did you remember?"

"What?" Iruka asked, mesmerized by the slight wet spot on the mask.

"The brand of shampoo you use."

"Uh, no…I…" Iruka said then stopped feeling slightly embarrassed. "I've been slightly distracted and…"

"No, harm done," Kakashi said with a shrug. "Well then…" It was almost as if he was about to conclude their date--if it was a date. Iruka desperately sought a topic of conversation that would keep them at the table for a little longer.

"I…hear Naruto is out on a mission today." Common subject, but not the best topic. Iruka hoped Kakashi would not blow up at the mention of their orange-clad student.

_Since Kakashi seemed at a loss __for__ what to do once he was out of ANBU__ Sandaime suggested he take up a genin team like some jounins did. When that idea was turned down, the request had bec__o__me an order. Kakashi had failed each and every team assigned to hi__m__. Though there was __no__ way the administration could interfere without undermining his authority, many speculated that the reason Kakashi kept on failing students was because he was hoping to get back into ANBU. But he proved that speculation wrong by taking on the most difficult genin team as his students__--__the surviving Uchiha __heir__ and the Kyuubi vessel._

"Have you been practicing?" Kakashi asked him, ignoring his comment about Naruto.

"Somewhat," Iruka admitted, a little embarrassed by where his thoughts were going. He could remember in details all of Kakashi's mission and personal records, and it was as if he had an elephant sitting on his chest. He had been busty the entire week grading papers and working the mission desk; he had neglected his promise to brush up on his skills as a ninja.

"You should," Kakashi said fishing out a couple of notes and dropping them onto the table casually. "There are people who want you to stay alive, Iruka-sensei."

"What…" Iruka stared as he tried to frame the question. Did that mean Kakashi cared about his well being? Did that mean…Kakashi had disappeared in a puff of white smoke, as per usual.

Iruka stared at the spot where his dinner partner had been, wondering what was going on, until amateur singing hour started on stage, and he had to get away from civilians yowling like cats in heat. At least he'd paid for the food, Iruka thought, as he walked home in the dark.

But what exactly was going on? Why had Kakashi invited him to eat out all of a sudden? Why take him to the school basement and glue him to a box and go away? He should just face the senior ninja and ask, he decided. And he would do it tomorrow

[1 Most people are aware Kakashi became ANBU at 17. But for the sake of the story, I've decided he took part in ANBU missions when he was younger. After all, we was a chuunin at 6.

A/N –Oh, I know Kakashi is behaving oddly. But just wait and see: he has a reason for it. You just might not like the reason. Be warned.


	7. Chapter 7

Part 7

Iruka actually cringed a little as he waited for the much anticipated event of the day. Not just by him, it seemed, but by everyone, which was very annoying. He had the notion that the mission room was a little more crowded than before, but it could be because he was feeling self-conscious. The mission room was always crowded at the end of day, since nearly all the chuunins and jounins dropped in to find out about the proceedings of that day. These included how many missions had been completed successfully, how many had been injured or killed during these missions and if there were any coveted new missions coming up –such as escorting a pretty, nymphomaniac princess home.

As agreed, Izumo had told Kakashi that he was to collect his next mission from Iruka at the mission desk. However, Raidou, who had been part of their conversation, had told Anko about it over his date, who had told Kurenai, who had told Asuma, who had told…well just about everybody.

Iruka looked around him as he piled up the last of the mission reports and then decided that he was done for the day. He was not disappointed-- it was stupid of him to be disappointed over something he did not like. He was disappointed because he had been determined that he would confront his problem that day and not blush like a virgin bride. Then his problem had failed to materialize. It was going to have to stop. He was going to show that he had a backbone, and this ridiculous charade was going to come to an end. He had not slept a wink the previous night, since he'd been thinking of date with Kakashi and everything. It was so annoying, this state of being semi-worried about Kakashi. Did the man like him, did he not like him? Did he have some sort of ulterior motive? How was he going to tell Kakashi he'd seen his face and read his personal file? Anyway, it was getting late, and he had places to go--well, namely home, but that was a place.

There was a puff of smoke--a teleportation jutsu--and the next instant, Hatake Kakashi was standing in the middle of the mission room, reading his trademark orange book. He looked up briefly, nodded towards Asuma, then strolled slowly towards Iruka, who was sitting there, his fists clenched on his lap.

"Iruka-sensei," said Kakashi, looking slightly nonplussed as if he hadn't expected Iruka to be there. "How are you today?"

"I'm fine," Iruka said automatically. "Thank you," he added, since he was brought up to be polite. "You have to collect your mission from the Hokage's office." Then, acting on his earlier determination, he held out his hand and started to speak--to Kakashi's back, since the annoying man had turned around and was strolling off towards the exit, pulling out the book from his pouch as he did so.

"Kakashi-san," Iruka said politely through gritted teeth. He was pissed. Kakashi had given no indication of anything that had happened the previous night. Not that much had happened, but you did not invite perfect strangers to eat with you, did you? And he still hadn't dealt with the issue of the incident in the basement. Then there was another thing Iruka wanted to discuss. "Your mission report."

Kakashi stopped in mid-motion, turned around and smiled. Iruka assumed he was smiling, since all he could see was one crinkling eye and that wasn't anything to go by. "My mission report," Kakashi repeated as if Iruka had said something forbidden.

"You did have a D-rank mission three days ago," Iruka said, forcing himself to look up into that the single visible eye. "You still haven't handed in your report."

"Ah." One hand went to ruffle his already disarrayed silver hair then slid down to hold the back of his neck while the other closed over the familiar orange book. With his stooped shoulders and pleading stance, it reminded Iruka of facing students who were late to hand in their assignments. "Well you see, Iruka-sensei…uh…one of my dogs ate my…" _homework_ "…report."

"I've met one of your dogs, remember," Iruka said calmly. "Wasn't it called Pakkun. Doesn't seem to be type to chew up mission reports. If I didn't know better, I'd say your dogs are more intelligent that you are."

The mission room was so quiet, Iruka could hear the potted plant in the corner grow. He looked at Kakashi, waiting for the silver-haired man to react, but all he did was shrug.

"It's not as if I include everything that happens in my reports," he said casually.

"Such as…" said Iruka in a voice that would have had his students ducking for cover. Some of the chuunin in the room took a step back, but Kakashi was either oblivious or perhaps just unconcerned about the impending danger.

"Well, there was the time we were collecting trash in the river, and Naruto got swept over the waterfall," Kakashi said holding, out a finger as if keeping count.

"Really," said Iruka, telling himself that Naruto was fine, and that he was off training with Jiraiya. Well, the thought of the kid training with an old pervert brought up more questions, but he wasn't that worried about it.

"Sasuke saved him then," Kakashi said and turned around as if to walk away again, and all Iruka could do was stand there with his mouth open. "But not even Sasuke was willing to run after Naruto when a dog he was walking dragged him into the village minefield."

"That's nice," said Iruka, feeling drained. Naruto was fine now. Maybe if Naruto came back with a penchant for peeping into ladies' bath houses, he'd deal with it accordingly then. Right now he had bigger issues to deal with. He opened his mouth to tell Kakashi that talking about past missions was not going to let him off writing mission reports, only to realize that the jounin was walking away, and short of running around his desk and dragging him back, there was nothing he could do. Damn that man!

"What do you know," Anko crowed loudly. "Iruka-sensei has a love interest."

"I do?" said Iruka, still fuming over Kakashi, until he realized his problems hadn't dissipated, and now his secret was out in the open. "He's not my love interest." It was a reflex action, something he repeated to himself over and over again.

"But admit it," said Anko thumping Iruka on the back enthusiastically and pushing him onto the desk. "The man likes you. He's here every day asking about you, he tells you things he's never told other people about and …"

"He told me how he put his genin team in danger," Iruka said angrily. "That's hardly a heart to heart conversation."

"Maybe," said Genma once he'd popped his senbon back into his mouth. "But Kakashi doesn't ask us how we are."

"Leave the poor man alone," Asuma said, as Iruka continued to turn two shades redder, and Iruka sighed in relief. At least someone was on his side. "The poor man's genin team isn't here – Sakura, who is the only remaining student, is undergoing training with Tsunade, and even Gai is out on a mission. He must be bored."

And Iruka had thought someone was coming to his rescue. He stood up carefully and gathered up the missions reports cluttering his desk. He had essays to grade and laundry to do, so he might as well head off to home before everyone decided that he was their nighttime entertainment.

Not that there was much to look forward to. He had a headache that just wouldn't go away, lesson plans from other teachers to go over, shopping to do--he was running low on milk. However, there was one thing to look forward to--though he had had not been able to confront Kakashi as he had originally planned to, the day was not yet over, and he knew exactly what to do afterwards.

As he started to walk towards the door, Kotetsu walked in, and the two almost bumped into each other.

"I was just about to come and collect those," Kotetsu said to Iruka as he took the pile of reports off the teacher. Iruka blinked--he had always filed the mission reports himself; no one had ever stepped in to help him. "So…did he come today?"

"Who?" Iruka ground out, ready to tear his hair out, since he already knew the answer.

"Kakashi, of course," Kotetsu said, with about as much care for Iruka's glaring as Kakashi had. Then again, the man spent so much time around Tsunade, it probably took more than a death glare from an academy teacher to faze him.

Iruka snapped. "I don't get it," he ground out. "He doesn't do anything special for me." There was one small detail he thought it wise to keep mum about. "And you people make it sound as if I'm having a lurid affair with him."

"You could," Anko said with a smirk. "It's Kakashi, you know. He screws just about anything that moves and then some."

"You would know," Genma said with a sideways grin. "You've tried out every available combination in Konaha and then some."

"Not as much as Kakashi has," Anko said, before Iruka could get his head around the Anko and Kakashi aspect.

Not that he was surprised. He was sure he was the only person in the room without a sex life. Shinobi were pretty open with their sex lives--there wasn't much to hide. They lived too fast and too dangerously to have complicated love lives so they fucked and fought in equal measure. There were hardly any hang ups, very little commitment and even fewer complications.

"Well, I heard Kakashi screws people when he's on missions, too," Raidou offered, looking pleased he'd managed to join in the conversation. He did not seem worried that his date from the previous night was talking about her past lovers, but, jounins were different. Iruka groaned mentally--and he had been so close to the door. Just another step, and he might have been able to get away. Then he realized the seriousness of the Raidou's statement. Now he had images in his head of his love interest with other people, and it was something he could have done without. The thought of Kakashi with faceless strangers was disturbing on so many levels.

"Is that allowed?" Iruka wondered, since fraternizing with other clans was a long and tedious process monitored by everyone. To engage in sex with someone else outside of Konoha while on a mission sounded rather compromising.

"It's Hatake Kakashi, the legend," Genma said with a roll of his eyes. "The man reads porn in public, and no one says anything. If he decided to masturbate in public, people would still look the oth…"

"Please," said Kurenai stepping in before Iruka could combust on the spot. "We're supposed to convince Iruka-sensei that Kakashi is a nice person, not a pervert who reads Icha Icha books in broad daylight." The way she said it made Iruka wonder just what exactly was in those books. He worried about Naruto going off to train with the author of such infamous books. He wondered why he needed convincing about Kakashi. He also wondered why people didn't mind their own business.

"Well," said Anko enthusiastically. "He's bloody brilliant in bed…just that…" she seemed to contemplate it a bit. "…the mask is a bit of a turn-off. It's exciting at first…you get to screw with the masked man and all, but when he doesn't take it off, it gets tedious after a while."

"I see," said Iruka weakly, inching towards the door. So Kakashi did not take off his mask, even while having sex, so what did that make Iruka who had glimpsed his face?

"He's not too choosy," Anko continued while Iruka stared. "I hear he and Gai had a thing going for a while, you know."

Genma almost swallowed his senbon, causing everyone to step forward, and then recovered. "Ew," he said finally.

Iruka remembered Kakashi washed and dressed, left on a hospital bed. Gai had done that. Probably even seen Kakashi's face. He really, really hated Gai then.

"Please," Raidou groaned. "Someone spare me the image. The man couldn't have been that hard up. I can't think of anyone worse."

"Orichimaru," Asuma said blandly, and Anko suddenly paled, then blushed, competing for Iruka's coloring.

"Oh," said Iruka while everyone in the room stared at Anko with new interest. They were in a room full of ninjas who had been trained to observe minute changes in personality, so it was hard to miss.

"I had a crush on him when I was a child," she protested weakly. "He was my jounin sensei, you're **supposed** to have a crush on your jounin sensei." Asuma looked worried, and Kurenai blanched.

"So, is it true what they say," Kurenai asked. "He's snakelike all over?"

Thankfully, Iruka was spared an answer by the entrance of a lesser chuunin who had a summons for all the jounins present and Kotetsu to come to the Hokage's office. Something about another intruder alert which probably was a hoax. People were jumpy after the last attack, and they saw intruders everywhere.

"I'd better go, then," said Iruka, as he thrust the mission reports into Kotetsu's hands and jumped out the closest window.

Iruka landed neatly on the cobblestoned pavement, then started to walk towards his apartment, his senses alert. He knew the moment the familiar chakra signature appeared-- he was a teacher, for god's sake, so he had eyes at the back of his head.

He knew Kakashi was close by; he had known Kakashi would be coming out after receiving his mission from Tsunade and had wanted to meet the man. Though he had balked at the overenthusiastic teasing in the mission room, the truth was he was a little flattered that Hatake Kakashi had shown an interest in him.

He had recently realized that though he handed out mission reports, he rarely went on missions. He taught other people's kids but didn't have any of his own. Not that he thought he might be having any children, since he was aware of his preference, and he did consider Naruto to be sort of son. And then there was the whole relationship issue.

Iruka was a good guy in everyone's books. He knew practically everyone in the village, since he either taught them or taught their kids, nephews, nieces or they attended the academy where he worked. Those whom he did not meet in school, he met at the mission desk. He was the person they came to when they had relationship difficulties, when they wanted him to play the middle man in an introduction, or the third wheel on dates when they wanted him to play chaperone. He had no love life of his own. Not that others hadn't tried, but after years of trying to set him up with everybody from grandmothers to bar maids, they had given up.

But now, Iruka thought that he had been a spectator long enough. It was high time he took some interest in his life, and for that he needed to actually have a life. Perhaps starting with finding out why Kakashi had invited him to dinner the night before. And the man had told Iruka to be strong and stay alive. It wasn't as if he was chasing after a lost cause.

"Kakashi-san, can we speak?"

There was a movement, far too quick for the naked eye to follow, and Kakashi appeared next to him, smiling self-consciously as if he was a child caught with his hand in the candy jar.

"Iruka -sensei," said Kakashi casually. "How…"

"You've already asked me that question," Iruka said in exasperation. "Can I ask you something?"

"Werewolves," Kakashi said promptly.

"Werewolves," Iruka repeated in astonishment.

"You do know what they are, don't you?" Kakashi asked with an air of someone about to launch into a long, tedious explanation.

"I know what they are," Iruka said in frustration "Why are you following me?"

"Me?" said Kakashi, looking slightly shocked, as if Iruka was spouting nonsense.

Iruka groaned mentally. This had to stop. Kakashi was so damn good at avoiding the real point, Iruka was sure the jounin could give Ibiki pointers on how to avoid interrogation. Maybe he already did. There was only one way to avoid the long drawn and useless conversation.

"Your friends from the mission desk told me that you were…er… you know." He could be wrong. Then he tried to remember the reasons why he thought Kakashi liked him.

"_Can I… see your Sexy-no-Jutsu" _

"_That's love," Shikamaru shrugged. "He's just trying to get her attention."_

"_Be strong__ Iruka-sensei; be strong enough to stay alive."_

"_There are people who want you to stay alive, Iruka-sensei."_[1

"Do you like me?" he asked Kakashi point blank. "Is that why you're acting like this with me?"

"Uh." Kakashi blink rapidly. "I…yeah…that's it…I mean, that's why I'm shadowing you," he said, obviously stunned by the directness.

"Why don't you walk with me up to my quarters properly, then?" Iruka said, as Kakashi stood there looking as poleaxed as a man with only one visible eye could. He thought about asking Kakashi to carry some of his scrolls for him, then changed him mind. There was no need for him to overwhelm the guy.

"Hn," Kakashi nodded, stuck his hands in his pockets and started to walk slightly behind Iruka, his head down as if counting the flag stones in the pavement, moving in his familiar loping way. It was not a very comfortable walk, as the street lights came on one by one and the night insects started to gravitate towards the light. As they passed a pool of light, Iruka turned slightly to look at his companion but the silver haired man remained silent. The atmosphere was starting to get tense, and Iruka wondered if he had been an idiot to invite Hatake Kakashi to walk him home.

He wasn't even sure if it was done in the civilian sector, but it most certainly was not in the Shinobi circles of Konoha. Most Ninja's considered it an insult if someone offered to walk them home, since it implied they were not strong enough to protect themselves. Unless they were very close: best friends, having sex with each other, or a couple. Since they weren't any of the above, Iruka wondered if he should explain himself. Additionally, there was the problem of the little orange book that had appeared in the jounin's hand, even though Iruka was sure it was too dark to read.

He wondered if he should do something, but what? He was at a loss, and they walked in silence until they reached the bachelor quarters. Iruka looked up at his apartment on the second floor, and smiled wryly. "We're here." That had been as pleasant as having Gaara over for dinner.

"Iruka sensei…."

"If you are walking me home, then you might as well call me Iruka," the chuunin said softly. He looked down and swallowed. It was so wrong--Kakashi did not sound as if he wanted to be with Iruka or even speak to him and…and…Iruka sighed miserably. But he had been open about it, so he might as well get it over with. "And I think I deserve a kiss."

He looked down as he spoke, not wanting to face Kakashi. He did not want to see his reaction…

"Put your homework scrolls on the ground," a flat voice instructed him. He did it automatically, as he wondered if he should prepare to defend himself. If Kakashi was to hit him, he wouldn't do anything, Iruka decided. He would just take whatever was dished out to him quietly and walk away. Forget the stupid incident. He was determined, but he still flinched as hands reached for his head. It took him a few minutes to realize that Kakashi was undoing his hitai-ate and tying it over his eyes in place of a blind fold.

It was then he realized that Kakashi really intended to kiss him, and for that he needed to pull his mask down. Even if he had the brain of a moron, Iruka knew he could not now say , _"B__y the way__ I saw you__r__ face__ because I looked under your mask while you were lying unconscious in a hospital bed_." It was not only a mood killer; it would probably get him killed anyway.

Then he felt a calloused hand under his chin tilting his head up, and then, soft lips closed over his. Kakashi's lips were tentative, almost shy as they bushed over Iruka's gently. Then he felt the tip of a tongue over his upper lip, the brush of teeth over his lower. Then Kakashi moved back a little and Iruka made a small protesting sound at the back of his throat and tried to move forward.

Then Kakashi's lips covered his again, this time completely, and Iruka opened his mouth willingly to let his in. The jounin tasted of coffee and something faintly sour. Not unpleasant, but different – just like the man himself. Iruka leaned forward cursing mentally as their flak jackets collided as Kakashi's kiss deepened.

Iruka's toes curled in his blue sandals as he tried to get more of Kakashi; his heart was beating wildly in his chest from the excitement, and he wanted more. Kakashi smelled slightly of sweat and weapon oil, a combination that said "male," and it excited him. He lifted his hands, which he had kept at his side and wrapped them around Kakashi's shoulders, surprised at how slender the taller ninja felt. Kakashi wound his arms around Iruka, one over his shoulder and the other around his waist, pulling him closer. Though the ninja gear didn't let them get close enough for comfort, and there was the danger of sharp weapons hidden in their clothing pricking each other at in appropriate moments, Iruka clung to Kakashi as hard as possible.

The kiss seemed to go on forever as Iruka felt the hand on his waist move down to cup his butt. Before he could react, he was pulled closer until his groin was hard against Kakashi's thigh. He groaned into the other man's mouth and tired to rub himself a little, unashamedly trying to hump his leg.

Kakashi gave him one last hug then broke the kiss gently, despite his mumbling protests, and drew back. There was a small pause, then the hitai-ate was untied and Iruka was once again staring at Kakashi's masked face.

"Oh," said Iruka breathlessly, sure his face was flaming red. "Oh…my…"

"Good night, Iruka-sensei," Kakashi said taking another step back.

"Uh," said Iruka a little nonplused. Kakashi was behaving like a gentleman, which was the last thing he expected. After listening to all the talk about him being a sex addict, he'd expected Kakashi to throw him on the hard ground and ravish him. "Would you like to come in…" _and continue from where we stopped._

"Can't," Kakashi said with a shake of his head. "There's a jounin meeting in the Hokage office…"

"But that was an hour ago," Iruka said in shock, coming out of his lust-induced stupor fast.

"I'll be just in time, then," Kakashi said jauntily. "See you around, Iruka-sensei." And he was gone, leaving Iruka open mouthed.

[1 don't look at me like that. No anime is complete without flashbacks.

A/n- someone pointed out to me that there was a lot of leg humping. My excuse, Kakashi has dogs – he must be used to it.


	8. Chapter 8

Part 8

"Kakashi sensei," Iruka said, fighting the urge to stand up as the jounin – his jounin-- walked into the mission room. 

"Iruka." The silver haired ninja nodded as if in recognition, then looked around at the mostly empty mission room. Luckily for Iruka, that day's mission desk duty had been divided between him and Shikamaru, and that boy wasn't interested in anything that didn't float in the sky. 

"I came in to hand in my mission report," Kakashi said, handing Iruka a report which was written in neat handwriting on yellowing paper. 

"I'll…uh…have to go over this before I file it," Iruka said a little hesitantly. He wasn't sure if Kakashi had come to see him specifically or to just hand in his report, which also had to be done at the mission room. While they might have kissed the previous night, Iruka was old enough to know it was not a declaration of lifelong commitment to each other. There was only one way to confirm it. "Shikamaru," he called over as casually as possible. "Any more reports to be processed?"

"No, I'm done, Iruka-sensei," the younger chuunin said distractedly, looking out the window longingly. 

"Then, why don't you leave," Iruka said making it sound like a generous offer. "If anyone else comes in, I'll just deal with them. I only have Kakashi-sensei's report to process, and then we're done for the day."

"Is that all right?" the boy asked, unconvinced, his eyes still fixed on the clouds outside. The boy might be a genius, but he was still the same lazy student who tried to get away with doing the least amount of work.

"It's a good day for cloud watching," Iruka said kindly and smiled as the boy walked out with a grateful smile. There, he'd gotten rid of the third wheel. Now he had to behave professionally and go through the report page by page. Then he had to tally up the accounts with the stated expenses and then… "We're alone now," he blurted out. 

Kakashi looked at Iruka from his place in front of the desk as if Iruka had declared he was going to wear dresses from that day forward. So, maybe he wasn't being clear enough, or Kakashi was being extremely dense or just not interested.

"In case you want to kiss me or anything," Iruka said then blushed as he realized just what he had blurted out. By then he wanted to run out of the room, or just hide behind a stack of files until the Copy-nin was gone. He couldn't believe he had said something so…so…outrageous. 

He picked up the report and decided to put it in with the rest of the reports that needed to be processed tomorrow. It was Raidou's shift at the mission desk the following day, and he could do it as easily as any idiot could. There was no way Iruka was collected enough to do something like that after the blunder he had made. He pushed back his chair, picked up the report and walked over to the stack on the desk behind him.

He did not hear any movement behind him, but suddenly he was pinned from behind and his hitai-ate was pushed over his eyes. Then he was spun around forcibly and firm lips pressed against his own. Taken by surprise, Iruka gasped, which gave Kakashi room to thrust his tongue into him. Their tongues grappled while their hands explored freely – more freely than they had the previous night. 

Iruka, being slightly shorter than Kakashi, had to raise himself a bit, and this gave Kakashi room to insert a leg between his own. His member was hard immediately; there was no in-between process as Iruka groaned and rubbed himself against the Copy-nin's hard thigh. 

Kakashi broke up the kiss suddenly, though, then drew back. Confused Iruka gasped for air as the other man pushed up his hitai-ate and moved back a little. "What…"

"Someone's coming," Kakashi said with a shrug, and Iruka noted with some annoyance that the Copy-nin had bothered to pull up his mask before pushing up Iruka's forehead protector. 

Iruka took in a shaky breath and moved a little unsteadily towards the mission desk as the door swung open and Kiba walked in. "Iruka-sensei," he said, as Akamaru poked his head out of his jacket and barked a greeting. "Just dropping off a list of meds sis needs for her practice. Think you can give this to Tsunade-sama when she comes to office?"

Iruka smiled automatically as he took it. "You should have handed this in earlier as you were supposed to, Kiba," he said in his sensei voice. "You know better than to play with Akamaru when you're running errands."

"We were training," Kiba said a little defensively and then smiled. "Don't tell sis I brought it in late, sensei, please."

"Just this once," Iruka agreed, as he put the medical supplies request with the rest of the documents to be handed over to the Hokage then looked around towards where Kakashi was supposed to have been.

To his surprise, Kakashi was till there, leaning against the wall and reading his Icha-Icha paradise. He looked up as Kiba left and gave a shrug which could have meant anything from annoying dog boy to interesting paragraph. 

"I have to go as well, sensei. Have a few things to get ready before my mission for the research division." He closed his book and slipped it into his pocket after marking the place he'd been reading with a piece of a leaf torn off a potted plant close by. "I'll see you around then." 

Then he walked up to the door, opened it, walked out and closed it behind him.

Iruka stood there with his face split in a wide grin. It had not been an official declaration, but Kakashi had said he was going before leaving, and he had said why he was leaving. He had also walked out of the room instead going off in a puff of air and he had, most importantly said, _**see you around**_. 

So, all he had to do was see Kakashi again, he decided. 

Iruka had been a late bloomer. He had enjoyed playing pranks and a good laugh with his friends but had seen very little fun in chasing after girls. He still didn't, but he now knew the reason why. Perhaps it also had something to with losing his parents at an age where most children were hitting puberty and with having Mizuki as his best friend. 

Then he'd become an Academy teacher and had to become respectable, so he'd never had much time to do what teenagers did. That is, if you assume teenagers in a hidden village did such things, since they were trained as killers from a very young age. He wondered if this was how it felt to be a teenager. At least he was enjoying himself.

He ran into Kakashi two days later as he was going home after work. They had ramen at Ichiraku then kissed and groped like sixteen year olds in an alleyway before going their separate ways.

It was spontaneous. Iruka never did spontaneous. He liked things in order--like his lesson plans. Having Kakashi around was like having the perfect lesson plan and ending up with a class of fifty Konohamarus. 

Iruka knew from experience that good things never lasted long, but he was willing to forget this fact in the hope that he could delay the inevitable. As Anko had stated in the mission room, Kakashi got around. So maybe he would lose interest in Iruka and move away. Or maybe, he would just find someone else, which amounted to the same thing. As a lowly chuunin, Iruka did not think highly of his chances of keeping the infamous Copy-nin for himself, but he was going to enjoy what time he had. 

Their relationship was erratic. There would be times when Kakashi was nowhere to be found for up to two days, then he would be there on Iruka's class windowsill, book in hand, asking how Iruka was. They did not as much as kiss sometimes before Kakashi would hop off, but his appearances left Iruka feeling warm all over.

Perhaps that was how things were, he thought, before everything came crashing down.

It was an early Saturday morning, and Iruka was brushing up his skills in the school dojo. To give himself some privacy, he had locked the door, though he knew most students wouldn't come to school on a Saturday unless forced by dire circumstances. He stripped, changed into the training clothes, which were comprised of his forehead protector, long-sleeved black top and black pants [1. Leaving aside all his weapons, he tackled the stump which served as a sparring partner. He started off easy on the smoothly polished stump then worked his way through the spiked stumps, one by one. By the time he had reached the end, his hands and feet were bleeding slightly, and he was covered in a light sheen of sweat. 

Iruka gave a scowl of dissatisfaction. While he did not have the dedication of Lee, he did have to shape up more. Taking off his sandals, he got ready for the next stage of practice. He called up the rest of the sparring stumps – the ones with metal hooks and spikes that moved in a random order while being fixed to the log itself. 

He started off with a simple move, kick, block, jump…then graduated to more complex moves. He spun, kicked, moved back, then attacked. He concentrated on not hitting the same place twice, working his way up the log then down systematically. Suddenly, as he jumped up, one of the spikes he had assumed was still shifted towards where his foot was going to be. Iruka reacted instantly, propelled himself back and over into an awkward landing on his back on the hard mat. He lay there looking at the ceiling, panting hard as the room was filled with the soft hum of the machinery that animated the sparring blocks. He gave one last sigh and let his head fall to the side and shifted his legs together.

Then he slowly looked up again. Sitting on one of the railings from the spectator stand was Hatake Kakashi, watching him intently. His hands were empty of his ever-present book, and the look in his eye made Iruka pause for breath.

He stood up carefully and turned fully until he was facing Kakashi. He had not seen the elusive Copy-nin in three days, apart from a brief glimpse out of the window of his classroom, and he had been missing the man very much. Kakashi looked the same, his hair in disarray, his face covered, but despite all that, Iruka could sense that something was different. If he were to describe it, he would call it hungry.

Kakashi did not move as Iruka walked until he was standing directly below the jounin, and then he deliberately looked up. Slowly, he brought his hands up, undid his forehead protector, saturated with sweat, and just as slowly tied it over his eyes. Then he waited. 

He did not have to wait long. The other ninja tackled him to the floor, rolling on top of him even as his lips closed over Iruka's. Calloused hands pushed up his long-sleeved shirt, damp with sweat, while the other wound around his waist, lifting him closer. Iruka gasped at the sensation of having a weight on top of him pinning him down while eager hands pulled him up. He kissed back enthusiastically, his hands roaming over Kakashi's back. With a sound of impatience, he caught the open sides of the flak jacket and pushed it aside, breaking free of the kiss. "Take it off," Iruka said in a voice he did not recognize himself.

Kakashi moved back so he was straddling Iruka, his legs on either side of him as he did something – probably to take off his flak jacket as requested, since Iruka could hear the heavy cloth hit the ground. It was followed by three pings as something metallic joined it on the floor mat –Iruka wondered idly if it was the jounins' gloves or forehead protector…maybe both.

He made an impatient gesture, holding out his hand towards his …partner and Kakashi complied by pressing his body against Iruka, again. This time, he was only clothed in the long-sleeved shirt that all ninjas wore and his pants. Iruka shifted his hips upwards and was rewarded with a groan as their groins met. He lifted his hands, felt Kakashi's face lightly but moved on, not wanting to break the moment. His lips fastened on Kakashi's neck, pushing aside the mask pooled there impatiently while his hands sank into the hair. Kakashi's hair was both strong and silky. It had to be to, be able to stand up by itself. Iruka wondered what Kakashi looked like the first thing in the morning when his hair was in disarray but pushed aside the thought to enjoy the moment.

Kakashi was gently working his way down Iruka's neck. He lifted one of Iruka's hands gently by the wrist, and Iruka felt a warm tongue on his fingers. It sent shivers down his spine, especially when he realized Kakashi was licking away the blood on his knuckles.[2 When they kissed again, Iruka could taste the metallic taste of blood mixed with the normal Kakashi taste of coffee. He cringed mentally at how he must smell, sweaty and bloody, while Kakashi as usual smelled clean and fresh, but the thought escaped his mind as the kiss broke off and Kakashi nibbled his lower lip.

Iruka was no stranger to blood, having been a ninja for quite some time. The taste excited him and made him achingly hard. He reached up, hooked a hand around Kakashi and pulled him down, wanting more. He felt the snick of a blade, and his shirt was suddenly open in the front. He shrugged off the offending material as Kakashi continued with his ministrations. Iruka gasped as his neck was sucked and then those talented lips continued down. They stopped at his shoulder to gently lick the place where the neck met the shoulder before moving down to his nipples. They were bitten and sucked in maddeningly alternating cycles as a hand moved in to cup his butt.

Iruka gave in, touching Kakashi's body with his hands. It was slender and well-muscled; while the under vest was annoying, it was body hugging, so he could tell exactly what it was covering. He reached the waist band of Kakashi's trousers, pulled up the vest and slid a hand underneath. He felt Kakashi's abs carefully before pushing his hand further up.

One of Kakashi's nipples was pushed to one side by an old ridged scar, and his ribs had surgery scars on them. But the skin on his back was smooth and soft, and Iruka found it fascinating. He wanted to see it badly; was it creamy or tanned? He arched upwards again as Kakashi thrust in tongue into Iruka's navel and then continued to lap downwards. Then he reached Iruka's trousers and pulled at the drawstring holding them up.

Iruka stiffened a little then tried to relax but Kakashi had been a ninja for far too long. He stopped, sliding his hand back up as he leaned over Iruka. "Anything the matter, sensei?"

"No," Iruka gasped out breathlessly.

"Done this before?"

That deserved a frank answer. "No."

"Oh." Iruka was sure Kakashi was going to push off him and move off. Instead, Kakashi slid his hand down slowly. 

"No need to do everything all at once then." the Copy-nin purred. "We'll just take things slowly." He undid the drawstring of his trousers then removed one of his hands.

Iruka had to lick his lips before he could speak. "What?" He could hear the rustle of clothes that were not his own; so the Copy-nin's other hand was occupied.

"Ever given a hand job?" Kakashi sounded slightly amused as he used his hand to push down Iruka's trousers and his underwear. Then very gently, he fingered Iruka's erection.

Iruka gasped at the sensation, tried to move away while humping Kakashi's hand. Then embarrassed by his reaction, he buried his face in Kakashi's chest, face burning.

Kakashi did not let go of Iruka's penis. Instead, there was an unusual feeling – of something Iruka had not experienced before as if something was placed carefully aligned with his erection…

"Give me your hand, sensei," Kakashi instructed carefully. 

Iruka held out a hand and it was wrapped around both their erections, held together in Kakashi's fist. Oh…god…he gasped at the sensation….as Kakashi moved their hands together while gripping their erections. Iruka's toes curled and his mouth opened in a silent scream of pleasure.

"Oh…Ka…kashi," Iruka breathed. 

"Not bad…yourself, sensei." The usually unflappable voice sounded breathless and unsteady.

Iruka was lost in the sensations, unable to respond as it all built up inside him. He could feel Kakashi's body heat as he lay on top of Iruka, their hands moving faster and faster. 

Oh…god…Iruka was sure he screamed as he came; the feeling was so different from what he usually experienced when he jerked off. It was so overwhelming, he felt as if a something had exploded in his head. He felt their cum mingle and fall on his stomach. It was stunning.

He lay on the floor panting as Kakashi rolled over him. He felt his body being wiped with a cloth, probably his training shirt or what remained of it. Then he heard Kakashi get dressed, push up Iruka's forehead protector off his eyes and then get off the floor.

"That was fun, Iruka," Kakashi said softly as he stood over him, and Iruka stopped breathing. That was the first time he had been called by his given name in such a tone, and he felt oddly happy.

"I'm…sorry," Iruka said, getting to his feet unsteadily and pushing back his hair that hung half out of his pony tail. His trousers started to descend lower so he pulled them up, blushing "I …should have…" _gone all the way_.

"I'll see you again," Kakashi told him with a wave of his hand to dismiss the apology while he slipped on his gloves. "Don't fret, sensei."

"I like it better when you call me Iruka," Iruka told him with a blush, as he picked up the remains of his clothing and tightened his drawstring.

"So…" said Kakashi as if unsure what to say and Iruka decided to save him.

"I'm going to meet Naruto today," he said. "He's coming to Konoha for a brief visit, so I offered to treat him to ramen today. He might sleep over—he usually does when he drops in."

Kakashi nodded. "See you then, Iruka. I have to pick up a few things from the research department…"

"I'll see you soon," Iruka wondered if it was required of him to give a good-bye kiss.

Then thankfully, Kakashi boosted off the floor onto the exit ramp, and Iruka was left alone, holding his ruined shirt. He gripped it harder and decided to have a shower before getting dressed. His knees still felt shaky, and it was as if he was living in a dream. 

Little did Iruka know that he was in for a rude awakening that night. 

[1 Naruto episode 1. Iruka is in bed wearing such clothing and I was wondering just why does need to wear his hitai-ate in bed. Just wondering 

[2 No, they don't have to worry about AIDS :) 


	9. Chapter 9

part 9

"…and then we had to run all the way out of the village because the people were chasing us and," gulp, "…could have taken them all by myself but," gulp, "….Ero-sennin said we should pretend to be normal people so…so…"

"Eat a little more slowly, Naruto," Iruka said in his infinite patience. "If you choke on your food…" He stopped talking as Naruto threw away his chopsticks and picked up the bowl to upend its contents directly into his mouth.

"Anyway, they said the bath house was not for royalty, so…" Naruto paused as he reached for the second bowl placed before him.

"Did you go with Jiraiya-sama to the bath house?" Iruka asked in the gap between sentences.

"Nah," said Naruto, his mouth full of ramen. "He said I was too young."

Iruka gave thanks for small mercies, then decided to have a word with the older man before the two left the village again. Legendary Sannin or not, that man needed to learn how to behave when he was the guardian of a child. 

"How long are you here for?" Iruka asked causally, taking a bite out of his floating pork chops.

"Not long," Naruto sounded genuinely regretful. "We're leaving day after tomorrow. Ero-sennin has a few documents he has to hand over to the old hag in person. Then we are to head out for the Wind country, I think." 

"So soon," Iruka said involuntarily. "I was hoping you could stay at least a week." 

"So you missed me, neh, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto queried with a flash of teeth. 

"Of course, I missed you," Iruka said fondly, ruffling the familiar yellow hair, realizing with a pang that he no longer had to reach far down to pat his pseudo-son's head. Naruto was growing taller, just like the rest of them. "You can sleep over at my place as long as you're here. I don't think your old place has been aired for some time."

"That'll be great," Naruto said with enthusiasm. "Maybe I can take care of your mosquito problem for you. I have this new jutsu I learned from…"

"My mosquito problem?" Iruka repeated, mystified.

"You have that purple mark on your neck sensei …" 

Iruka clapped his hand over the offending bite mark, thanking the god that Naruto was too young to have understood the implication. He knew he was blushing and was grateful for the dim lights inside Ichiraku. "Ah, that…" he said, starting to think up an excuse but soon realizing that Naruto's attention span had not increased.. 

"Anyway, you can't be lonely with Kakashi-sensei watching over you," he said as he shoveled the last of his ramen into his mouth.

All of a sudden, Iruka felt as if a bubble over his head had been popped. "Naruto," he said carefully, "Say that again."

"I told Kakashi-sensei to look after you while I'm gone," Naruto said with childish simplicity. 

"You what?" Iruka blinked. "Naruto…why…what…when did you…" He took a deep breath. He was overreacting over a simple bit of information. "Can you tell me why you decided to do something like that?"

"I…"Naruto looked at Iruka closely. "Are you angry with me?"

"No," Iruka shook his head and gave a rather shaky laugh. "When did you tell him this?"

"Just before I left," Naruto said carefully. "Remember when you went after Mizuki-sensei, I mean the first time you went after Mizuki when he was a sensei…and you protected me."

"Yes." Iruka still had a scar on his back the size of a palm print. 

"You were crying," Naruto said softly, looking down at his bowl. "You said you knew what it was to be lonely, just like me. And I was your best friend here, wasn't I…" He looked up appealingly and Iruka nodded wordlessly. "…and if I were to leave I thought you should have someone to look after you." 

"Why Kakashi?" Iruka asked slowly.

"He's my bastard-sensei," Naruto scoffed. "He was too busy with Sasuke to notice me so he had to do that for me. It wasn't as if he went out of his way for me when I was in the village."

"What exactly did you ask him to do?" Iruka said carefully. "Naruto …oy….Naruto…" He looked over at the blond, who was staring at Iruka's barely eaten bowl of ramen with unconcealed hunger. He pushed his share towards Naruto and waited while the boy finished eating it, knowing from experience that he would not get an answer before that. 

"I asked him…to …did he do something wrong?" Naruto asked in his childish way.

"No, no," Iruka said hurriedly. "Just…tell me."

"I told him…" Naruto scrunched up his face in concentration. "Uh…to see how you were from time to time…"

Which Kakashi had done unfailingly._**"How are you, Iruka-sensei?" **_

"…and well…I thought you should …you know…train a little and get stronger, and he agreed. He said that if you were weak, you would get killed in action, so he'd evaluate your abilities…"

Which had been done. _"I'm heading up a follow-up investigation, about the Mist-nin attack. If you come with me and show me exactly how it took place…"_

"…and he even agreed to point out your weak points…"

No kidding. "_That trap you cast with your chakra…how do you undo it?"_ followed by the incident in the basement where Kakashi had driven his point home by fixing him to a box. _"It's important to know how to undo a trap as well as to set it up."_

And then, Kakashi had said_…"Be strong, Iruka-sensei; be strong enough to stay alive."_ He had said it because of a promise he had made to his student. This in a way made sense, Iruka realized. At their first time eating out, Iruka remembered asking how Naruto was and Kakashi had answered him by saying, _"There are people who want you to stay alive, Iruka-sensei."_

He had meant Naruto, not himself, Iruka realized with a sinking feeling. Oh…god…but at least Kakashi had asked him out to eat…

"…and gave him some of my savings to take you out for ramen from time to time…'cause that's what we usually do and…"

"You gave him money to take me out?" Iruka said carefully.

"Kakashi-sensei never pays for anything he can get for free," Naruot scoffed. "He said he'd consider it a mission, and I had to pay for his service –and I did." 

Iruka remembered Kakashi fishing out a couple of notes and dropping them onto the table casually…Naruto's money…oh…

"I…uh…forgot to tell you about it before I left the village," Naruto finished sheepishly. "You must think I'm an idiot."

"No," said Iruka, swallowing past the lump in his throat. "I'm the idiot, Naruto ….not you." 

Hatake Kakashi had done exactly what his genin student had paid him to do, taken care of his idiot teacher while out of town. Some of his methods might have been unorthodox, like distracting him while using his sexy-no-jutsu and then letting him get caught in his own trap, but as he knew, Kakashi's teaching methods had always been exceptional. And Iruka had misinterpreted his intentions. Driven by his own crush on the older man, he had let him self be swayed; by hope, by his friends' words, by Shikamaru's advice…into thinking that he had a chance with Kakashi.

"_Do you like me? Is that why you're acting like this with me?"_

"_Uh. I…yeah…that's it…I mean, that's why I'm shadowing you." _

Thinking back, it had not been the most convincing statement --Iruka had just wanted to be convinced. Then he'd thrown himself at Kakashi like some slut. And as Raidou had said, Kakashi lied as easily as he breathed.

"_And I think I deserve a kiss."_ Iruka wanted to die of humiliation. _"We're alone…if you want to kiss me…" _ He was sure he was going to curl into a ball and hide under a table until all of it was over. And Kakashi had just taken what Iruka had given-- no one ever refused anything given for free, and Iruka had given like a bitch in heat. 

"Iruka-sensei…are you all right, you look kind of…" Naruto looked at him worriedly. "…pale."

"I …uh --just forgot to file a report," he said getting to feet a tad unsteadily. The stool he was sitting on tilted to one side, and Naruto caught it before it could hit the ground. "I'll be right back…why don't you go to my place and wait there. This shouldn't take long."

"Maybe I can come alone…"

"This is …top secret, Naruto," Iruka squeezed out woodenly. "You go ahead without me." 

He did not wait for an answer but walked as if in a dream towards the jounin quarters. He kept his mind as blank as possible as he moved his feet steadily forward. He was not going to think, he was not going to think. But when he reached the jounin sector, Iruka realized he did not even know where Kakashi lived.

By status, jounin quarters were more spacious than chuunin quarters. The apartments were larger with even the bachelor apartments having two bedrooms, and the married jounin could apply for houses in the civilian sector. Iruka stood in front of the collection of buildings, wondering which one belonged to the Copy-nin. He hesitated then stepped in, feeling his heart hammering in his chest. 

"Iruka-sensei." A deep voice behind him had him turning around, almost losing his footing. He blushed at his blunder, worry making him clumsy. 

"Ibiki-san," he said looking at the man and wondering how anyone could say he was only a couple of years older than Iruka. Then again, Kakashi was only a year older than him, and he never acted his age. "I was wondering if you could point me to Kakashi-san's apartment," he said hesitantly, looking at his feet.

"It's on the ground floor of the third building," Ibiki replied, pointing. "Is something wrong, sensei? You look a little disturbed." The man was extremely perceptive; he knew when a person was lying simply by looking at his eyes.

Iruka wordlessly shook his head and started towards Kakashi's apartment, without even bothering to thank Ibiki. Halfway there, he turned around and found Ibiki staring back at him with a frown. He bit his lower lip, gave an awkward bow, which probably did nothing to convince the interrogator that Iruka was not about to crack, and then half ran towards his destination.

The ground floor apartment that belonged to Kakashi had the sort of neglected look of a house where the owner does not spend too much time. He looked at the welcome mat in the front and noted the sandals there – two pairs--and hesitated. Perhaps Kakashi had a visitor, which meant it was not the best time to confront the man, but Iruka knew he could not wait until the following day. He couldn't stand the humiliating feeling inside him for another day. He lifted his hand and knocked loudly on the door, his knuckles getting scratched on the flakes of wood and peeling paint. 

Then he waited for a minute or so, listening to the sound of trotting feet on hard wooden floor –dogs, Iruka assumed--and then the sound of someone unlocking the door. There was a further pause, and finally the door swung open halfway and Kakashi appeared at the doorway, his feet bare, dressed in casual black pants, long-sleeved t-shirt and a hastily knotted scarf over the lower half of his face. He still had his hitai-ate on but the rest of his attire screamed relaxed and at home.

They regarded each other for a moment, Kakashi looking slightly startled. "Iruka," Kakashi said at last, one hand holding the door half open, the other on the doorjamb.

Iruka waited a little to see if Kakashi would invite him in or say something to ease his discomfort, but when nothing more was forthcoming he took a deep breath and blurted out, "I saw Naruto today."

Kakashi stepped forward and closed the door behind him. 

"I…," Iruka started shakily. "I wanted to talk to you."

Kakashi blinked a little then nodded when he realized Iruka wasn't exactly feeling verbal. "You told me you were going to meet him, today" he said finally.

"He told me that …he …requested you to take care of me," Iruka said slowly, trying to form the words past his dry lips.

"He did," Kakashi said equally slowly. "But…I thought you already knew about it."

"I didn't," Iruka said in a low voice. "He forgot to tell me before he went away." He gave a bark of a laugh. "That's Naruto for you." He looked at Kakashi and tried to from another sentence. "So…you weren't really interested in me in that way…uh?"

"I think you're nice," Kakashi said after a long pause. 

"But you didn't follow me or ask about me because you cared for me, did you?" Iruka asked, feeling a little hysterical. "You took me out to dinner because Naruto paid you, didn't you?" His voice was starting go up in pitch but he did not care. "You just…kissed me and groped me because I…"

"You wanted it," Kakashi said bluntly. "I was just doing what I was asked to do. You wanted me to kiss you, you wanted me to fuck you. Don't act as if I forced myself on you."

"I know," Iruka said through his tears. "But just tell me…did you really care for me? If Naruto had not asked …would you have even looked at me?"

Kakashi took a deep breath and looked away into the distance over Iruka's shoulder. Then he looked down at the chuunin who was looking at him imploringly and sighed. "No." 

"Oh." Iruka was not sure he knew what to say.

"Sensei." So it was back to that now. "You are a nice person…and you…you…"

"It's all right," Iruka gave a shaky, self-deprecating laugh. "For a moment there, I thought I caught the attention of the great copy-nin in a nice way. I'm sorry I…"

"I thought you knew Naruto asked me to look you up from time to time," Kakashi said, sounding apologetic. "And you did ask me to…"

"I know," Iruka said looking down.

"It wasn't as if you haven't fucked anyone before," Kakashi said pointedly.

"I haven't," Iruka said softly. "I thought I said that in the dojo today…"

"I was under the impression you meant you've never had sex on the dojo floor," Kakashi said, then before Iruka could talk continued. "You're a ninja and you're twenty-five. You can't be a virgin. That's…that's….what were you saving yourself for?"

"Apparently not for you," Iruka ground out.

"You wanted it," Kakashi said a little harshly. "You threw yourself at me."

"I didn't know you were getting paid to…fuck me," Iruka shouted.

"I wasn't," Kakashi shouted back. "That was a bonus for a lousy job."

Iruka felt as if someone had sucked the air out his lungs. Oh…god… He wanted to cry, scream, shout. He straightened painfully and managed a grimace which was meant to be a smile. "I'm sorry…"

The door which Kakashi was standing in front of jerked open. At first Iruka thought that Kakashi had opened it to go inside; then he realized that someone from the inside had opened the door. He had always observed that ninja looked different in civilian clothing. They looked younger without their forehead protectors. They looked like total strangers without their shirts.

It took Iruka three seconds to realize that the person who was standing in Kakashi's door way, minus his shirt, was Might Gai. Iruka could see things adding up; two sets of sandals in the doorway, the way Kakashi had not let Iruka into the apartment, the way Kakashi had a half-tied scarf over his face. That meant he had not been wearing the scarf over his face when he had been inside, which in turn meant Gai was privy to Kakashi's face-something he had not let Iruka see.

Iruka took a step back.

"IRUKA-SENSEI!" Gai sounded extremely pleased to see him. "I was wondering who was occupying my rival's attention…"

"I'm just leaving," Iruka said, jerkily taking another step back.

"You don't have to," Gai said. Iruka wanted Kakashi to say that line but he did not.

"I…I….have Naruto waiting for me back at home," Iruka forced out, taking another step back.

"How is that Vision of Youth and Vigor. I swear that Naruto has more stamina than my own Cute Lee, but the Power of…"

"He's fine," Iruka stated, then took another step back. "I'm sorry to disturb you."

"Iruka-sensei," Kakashi said quietly and Iruka looked up—hopefully. "My mission preparations are complete—I'll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning. I will not be seeing you for sometime."

_So what is Gai doing there, _Iruka wondered_. Pre-mission sex_.

"Kakashi," Gai said reprimanded. "Why don't you invite sensei for a cup of tea…" Gai looked at Iruka as he spoke, and his eyes were gentle.

Iruka turned and fled, giving up all pretence of moving away gracefully. He knew Gai must have overheard the conversation between him and Kakashi, and the last thing he needed was pity. 

Not from the person Kakashi was fucking.

A/N-- yeah, yeah…feel free to kill me. 

I would also appreciate some comments. Thank you for all those who reviewed.


	10. Chapter 10

A/n- to make up for the angst in the previous chapter, I present total crack

Part 10

Iruka had to admit that Naruto helped him stay sane. For the two days that he stayed in Konoha, he managed to visit all his friends, and Iruka accompanied him willingly. They ate out if they could and stayed up late talking about everything. Iruka deliberately tried not to think of Kakashi and everything that went with him – which was possible as long as he was occupied. He discovered that avoiding the issue did not always make it go away. When Naruto left, it was as if he was suddenly swept away by a tide of memories.

Iruka found out he could not do anything. He got distracted easily. He could not go to work, where he found he was assaulted by memories of Kakashi sitting on his windowsill or waving to him from the yard outside. If he went to work, he would remember Kakashi walking in to hand over his report and then kissing him against the file cabinet. Training was out of the question, since the dojo and his training kit made him depressed. His apartment was far too bleak after the departure of Naruto, and it seemed as if he had far too much time on his hands to think of the past. He wished Kakashi had died on some distant mission – now that would be nice. He fantasized about it a bit. Then he found himself tempted to act out his homicidal daydreams on his class, who seemed to have decided to make the best of Iruka's distraction. 

He found solace in the most surprising of things. He started reading his Icha Icha collection. It was so startlingly outrageous it was funny. The books read like one man's make-believe fantasy world. There was lots of sex in various combinations, and much to Iruka's relief some of it was not strictly heterosexual. However, his relief was short-lived as he remembered that though Kakashi was not interested in just het-porn, he was definitely not interested in Iruka. 

The books kept him steady as he followed the adventure of one man through women's bathhouses, changing rooms and between their legs. The characters were strangely familiar, and Iruka could see that the old man had woven everyday people into his books, most of them from Konoha. He smiled as he read about the exploits of a young schoolteacher who was forced to watch over a brood of demon offspring but stopped smiling as he read about the young teacher being seduced by the mother of said offspring who matched Anko's description.

The books did help him concentrate on other things; some of the positions described were next to impossible even for a well-trained ninja, and Iruka wondered if he should try bending into position – for the sake of practice. He read them late into the night, and three days later, looking into the mirror he had to admit, his eyes were starting resemble Gaara's.

It did not help that Iruka started to run into Ibiki and Gai at alarmingly regular intervals. He was sure he was under surveillance to make sure he was not about to have a breakdown. Perhaps Gai had reported him to Ibiki or the head interrogator had become suspicious of him after witnessing his odd behavior at the jounin quarters. Perhaps they thought he was coming down with something terminal.

Not that ninjas ever considered a broken heart a life-threatening condition. Even Sakura had been able to function normally after Sasuke had left, while Iruka was left struggling to pull himself together. Either he was overly emotional or Sakura did not love Sasuke as much as she had imagined. Iruka remembered that Naruto had been more obsessed with bringing Sasuke back than the pink-haired female. She seemed to have found her footing, getting along very well with Lee. This thought only served to make Iruka feel even more depressed. 

Iruka took two weeks of accumulated leave from school. He had found himself fingering his kunai after Konohamaru henged into a naked Tsunade instead of shouting at him as usual. (Perhaps it was the shock of having his face smothered by two pillow-like breasts.) Besides, he had hardly taken any time off, unless he counted the medical leave he had taken after the Mizuki incident, so he was long overdue for a vacation. Even in Konoha, leave taken for injuries in the field did not count against to work leave. However, this did not mean he could leave mission desk duty in the hands of another. Most of the jounins and the chuunins were assigned on missions, and the mission desk was short-staffed. Someone had to be there to at least handle the endless line of civilian requests which varied from shadowing errant husbands to finding lost pet lizards. 

Mission room duty was hardly inspiring. He was staring out the window, scowling at the sight of Konohamaru and Ami bickering on the road below, wondering how much he had to endure. He was starting to crumble around the edges. The lack of sleep was starting to tell, and he was seriously debating if he should take part in a missing lizard hunt. 

He had just found out that the only reason someone had taken an interest in him had been as a mission. It was more depressing than the time Mizuki had told him that Iruka's friendship meant nothing. Maybe he was in love with Kakashi. 

He just wished for a distraction. Something. Anything.

It came rather unexpectedly as he was closing down the mission room for the day. The jounins and chuunins who were back from missions were chatting, comparing notes as he sat up, stretching his back when…

"Iruka-sensei, just the person I have been meaning to talk to!"

Iruka cringed and looked around for a place to hide. "Gai-sensei," he said weakly.

"Ah, the apathy of youth these days," the green clad man declared. Iruka did not think he was that young but managed a weak nod. "I have come because I am at loss these days with my esteemed rival out of the village. Perhaps you could become my substitute rival for the day."

Iruka realized he had become the center of attention again as the people in the room turned to look at him. Genma was smirking knowingly, and Izumo was stifling a laugh.

"I…'m busy," Iruka said unconvincingly. 

"But I was so looking forward to having a new rival," Gai declared. "You should come and match your skills with me."

Either Gai was being nice to Iruka or trying to get him killed. Iruka wasn't sure which, since matching his skills against the senior jounin probably meant death in any case. Was Gai about to get back at him for trying to steal his lover? However, Iruka knew Gai was not exactly a person to hold a grudge. Not against a fellow ninja.

"I…"

"Where is the fire, the burning need – I thought you would be a good substitute rival since you took out a powerful Mist-nin," Gai continued in a loud voice, his teeth shining like diamonds. Was Gai here because he had overheard Iruka and Kakashi discussing their non-relationship? Was it pity or curiosity about the chuunin who tried to overreach? 

"The competitive sprit of the Konoha ninja will not be…" Iruka looked around and sighed. Gai was not the type to go away, and any more of this nonsense and everyone in the mission room would be planning his wedding to Gai. They'd probably decided to have green and orange streamers and fuzzy eyebrow-shaped centerpieces. 

"Fine," Iruka said.

"The body needs to be shaped just like the mind and with the power of youth…what?"

"I said fine, I'll come," Iruka said tiredly. "Can we just leave now?"

"Most certainly," Gai said exuberantly. "Sensei, you will not be disappointed with my…"

"Can we just leave," Iruka pleaded.

"AH, such a modern and hip attitude…"

Iruka just started walking towards the door, ignoring the sniggering multitude. As if any one of them was willing to save him from the horrors that awaited him with the Green Beast of Konoha. Why was the man called a beast -- was it because he was an animal in bed? Or because he was a brute when it came to training, and his challenges were enough to make a regular ninja run for his mother? Iruka wondered what he was in for as he walked out into the road and looked around speculatively. 

Gai came behind him, jumping up and down in an excited manner. "That is the sprit, sensei. Now we can run."

"Run," Iruka said a little stunned. "Where?"

"Around the village – a mere warm-up before our challenge," Gai sounded excited like a kid in a free all-you-can-eat candy shop. 

"A warm-up," Iruka said a little wearily. "One round."

"Surely you jest, sensei," Gai declared as he started running in place. "For a mere chuunin like you, I've cut down my warm-up schedule in half. We will run around the village seventy times, then a hundred push ups and …"

"You run around the village a hundred and forty times," Iruka managed incredulously. "That's an odd number for…"

Gai looked a little embarrassed. "It's hundred and fifty times," he admitted, shamefaced. "But to tell you the truth, I do not want to cut down my warm up regime by exactly half…"

"Fine," said Iruka as he mentally rolled his eyes. He wasn't even sure where this was headed, but he did not think Gai had challenged him because he was the only available choice. The last time he checked the duty roster there was the required number of jounins inside the village in case of an emergency, and not all of them were on duty at once. He might as well get it over with without thinking it over. "Lead the way, Gai-sensei."

He was sure the running around the village suggestion was a ruse for something else. Perhaps to lead him to a deserted part of the village and beat him up. Still, it was better to get it over with. What he did not realize was that subterfuge was not Gai's strong point. If the green clad man said run, he meant run. 

By the time the first lap was over, Iruka came to appreciate just how large Konoha was for something that was supposed to be hidden. The first lap was relatively easy, as Iruka was careful enough not to start at anything faster than a brisk trot. Gai was either kind enough, or felt the need to show off, as he paced with Iruka at the beginning, pointing out the place where his students where practicing. It was a small clearing by the lake, full of training equipment, seemingly more suitable for picnics than weapons training. "He wishes to make Neji his rival in the absence of Sasuke, his first choice." Lee was engaged in some hand-to-hand combat with a tree and was winning by the looks of it. 

"That's my Lee." Iruka could see tears of pride in Gai's eyes. "He's so inspired." Next to Lee were Neji and Tenten doing their own practicing. 

"Those two…" Gai said in what he considered to be a whisper. "They're so close I think there might be more between them at times. Admit it Iruka-sensei, this is the time for love."

Iruka watched TenTen hurl about a hundred kunai, a long-bladeed spear, a double-headed axe, several shurikens, a long sword, a pole, a boomerang and a throwing knife at Neji from her weapon-summoning scroll and nodded. Yes, that was exactly how life felt like for him. 

By the second time around the village, Iruka was forced to acknowledge that some people he knew were watching his progress with interest, including some of those who had been in the mission room when Gai had invited him. By the third lap, these same people started taking bets to see just how many laps he could run. By the eleventh lap he developed a stitch on his left side and a blister on his heel. By the fifteenth, he started to wish for more air. By the time he'd managed to stagger through his seventeenth lap, Gai went past him on his twenty-first lap calling out platitudes of encouragement that made Iruka want to kill the spandex freak, if only he could move fast enough. 

Halfway through his twentieth lap, Iruka sat in the middle of the road and refused to move. Gai had made his point very clear. Iruka was a chuunin who could not keep up with him; Iruka had never had that amazing stamina Gai and Lee seem to possess – even Kakashi might not have it, though it had never been tested, and really the Copy-nin was a little too lazy to run around the village a hundred times.

"Well, Gai-sensei," Iruka said from his position in the road as a pair of orange leg warmers came into view. "You won -- now go away."

"Iruka-sensei," Gai sounded hurt. "The power of …"

"What do you want, Gai?" Iruka asked, tilting back his head, not bothering with any honorific. He glared the best he could from his position on the ground. "Just tell me what you want to say, and then leave me alone."

"I did not want to tell you anything," Gai said, sounding shocked. "Is there something wrong, sensei? Would you like to sit down somewhere?"

Iruka bit back the urge to point out that he was indeed sitting down and that he wasn't the one acting strangely but let Gai in his own fashion help him to the area where his team was. 

"Why in the world are you bothering with me if you didn't want to hammer a point into me?" Iruka asked.

"I was told by Ibiki that you were a little under the weather and thought I should cheer you since Kakashi is out of the village."

Iruka flinched both mentally and physically at the mention of his personal silver-haired demon. While Kakashi was almost a landmark in Konoha, very few people mentioned his name, even when he was in the village. "Why would I want to be cheered up when Hatake-san is out of the village?" he asked coldly.

"But you are the one who has inspired love in my rival's heart." Gai was very, very loud -- and to be saying such things in the presence of his students. Iruka cringed and wondered if he could hide somewhere for the rest of his life. "You brought back the feelings of youth into his life -- you gave him the inspiration to…"

Iruka watched as Tenten looked at her unassuming grade school sensei with new interest. He could practically hear her thoughts, laced with disbelief. _Kakashi-sensei likes _him Neji was pointedly not looking at him, and Lee seemed to have decided to spare the tree for a moment while listening to his beloved teacher spout marvelous words of wisdom.

"…tender feelings of love, passion, devotion, adoration, friendship, of unmatchable…"

"Gai," Iruka practically shouted. "Shut up."

"But Iruka-sensei." Was Gai always this persistent? "I'm sure he will come back to take you into his tender embraces and hold you safe in his bosom…"

Did Gai read something similar to Icha Icha Demented in his spare time? Kakashi did not even have a bosom – Iruka could attest that he was very flat-chested. Which was not the main issue…

"Might I remind you that last time I dropped in on your rival's house, you were there half-dressed?" Iruka could not help but say a little sharply.

Neji looked at Lee then away – probably wondering just what this rival business was about. 

"Oh," said Gai with a look of understanding which irked Iruka.

"Don't you just 'oh'." He scrambled to his feet and marched forward angrily. "I saw you, remember? You're chest is hairier than your eye-brows." 

Lee looked entranced. TenTen looked green. Neji looked as mortified as he ever could without showing his emotions.

"I do occasionally drop in on Kakashi's place for a change of clothes and a shower," Gai said, looking at Iruka with a warm smile. "My apartment is on the other side of the complex, and when in a hurry I go to his place."

"You mean there is absolutely nothing between the two of you?" Iruka asked, to be certain, ignoring the warm feeling in his middle.

"We've had our odd challenges, mind you." Gai seemed to seriously consider the question. "But no, sensei – not in the way you would want."

"What sort of challenges, Gai-sensei?" Lee asked eagerly from his perch. Iruka had also been curious but had been unwilling to ask in case he did not really want to know.

"We've had competitions where we read to each other books of questionable repute…"

Kakashi and Gai read porn to each other, Iruka translated in his mind.

"…and self-pleasuring …er…challenges…"

Masturbating contests, Iruka groaned. He was not the only one; Neji seemed to have activated his Byakugan and was staring at the ground as if hoping the ground would swallow him up. Lee looked excited at the prospect of new challenges – he pulled out a notebook and started to scribble in it, most likely adding to his list of possibilities he could use against Neji. 

"My rival is not well-versed in the art of socializing," Gai said to Iruka in an almost gentle voice. "You must forgive him for being so inept at human communication. But he has a heart of gold and …"

"You heard what he said to me," Iruka said a little shakily, angry that Gai was defending that bastard. "Don't you say such things about him! I don't care if you and he are having a torrid love affair…"

"But sensei," Gai stepped in. "My own heart runs in a different direction. In fact, my heart is already stolen by a lovely lady from our beautiful village."

"You're in love," Iruka said in disbelief.

"I see you are incredulous," Gai said, his chest thrust forward as he emphasized his point. "But I assure you, I am in love with a lovely maiden who is as fair as day…"

Iruka frowned; did that translate to blonde…

"…with a bosom made for mothering and nurturing, gentle and caring, goodness shining through …"

Large-breasted – Iruka did not like the sound of this. Neji had picked up one of Tenten's kunai and was digging furiously; perhaps under the impression that if the earth didn't swallow him, he could give it a helping hand. 

"…and when I see her, my heart beats wildly in my chest, my knees feel weak, and my mouth goes dry…"

Iruka wondered if Gai had a history of chronic heart disease…

"…and the Hokage tower becomes the most revered building in the whole of Konoha as long as she graces it with her presence."

"Gai-sensei," Tenten sounded shocked. "You're in love with Tsunade?"

"No, no." Even Gai looked green at the thought. "Tsunade-sama looked after me when I was a toddler, and one of my personal mottos is never to fall in love with an older woman who's wiped you as a child." 

Tenten joined Neji in his digging while Lee continued to studiously take notes. 

"Then who?" Iruka wondered. 

"I meant the Most Beautiful and Wondrous Woman in the entire world, Shizune of course," Gai proclaimed loudly. "She is the apple of my eye, the blood in my body, the sparkle in my life, the …"

"But you said fair, large …er…chested and…and…" Iruka stammered.

"Love is a window through which I look at my lovely vision of perfection," Gai said in a voice which was close to dreamy. Iruka looked away in case he saw roses flying in the wind. "Iruka-sensei, we will both endeavor to win our true loves …" 

"Kakashi is not my true love," Iruka said coldly, stepping away. He noted that Neji and TenTen had uncovered a green box of sake from the ground and were taking generous gulps from it. He wondered why there were alcoholic drinks in the training grounds, then shrugged it off. He did not really, really want to know. 

"But you must not give up so easily…"

"I'm not giving up something I never had," Iruka said shortly as he started to walk away. "I'm just refusing to live in a dream…"

"But you are wrong," Gai cried out in dismay. "I'll prove it to you. I'll win my love and then you can …"

"Good luck," Iruka said interrupting rudely for the second time. "I'm not in the mood for this, Gai-sensei. Just let me know how it turns out."


	11. Chapter 11

Part 11

Part 11

The persistent knocking on the door forced Iruka to sit up in bed and switch on the night light on his bedside lamp. He groggily looked at the alarm clock, noted that it was three in the morning and picked up his weapons belt before answering door. He pulled open the door, wondered who was bothering him at this ungodly hour and hoped it wasn't anything serious. No one came knocking at such an hour unless it was a village emergency or someone was dying on his door step. Either one was unlikely, since it had been a relatively quiet night, and he had not heard anything to suggest otherwise. And even if the village was in some sort of crisis, the first person to be awakened would not be the chuunin school teacher.

Unless Konoha was under attack from a group of diaper-wearing super-babies…

Iruka jerked open the door, kunai in hand to see something equally bad – Mighty Gai standing on his doorstep with a Hokage mission scroll in his hand.

"Good Morning, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka almost stepped back and slammed the door but instead settled for a, "Go away and come back at a decent time." He was barely dressed, in a pair of sleep pants and a sleeveless vest, and his hair was falling all over his face, blocking most of his vision. He would have felt self-conscious if he had not been too sleepy to care.

"I see why my rival's frozen heart melted at your sight," Gai said with a blinding smile.

"What can I do for you, Gai-sensei?" Iruka forced out reluctantly.

"I'm here to give you your mission details," Gai boomed as he thrust a scroll towards Iruka. He really didn't have any other choice; he took it, broke the seal and unrolled it. The room was still in semi-darkness, so he reached for the wall switch and switched on the main lights.

Then realizing he was being an extremely bad host, he pulled back and smiled. "Why don't you come in, Gai-sensei?"

"Don't mind if I do," Gai said, stepping in, looking around with unconcealed curiosity. Iruka felt a little ill at ease as the jounin surveyed his surroundings, taking in Iruka's collection of little knickknacks on the windowsills, the mismatched furniture and the overflowing bookcase. "They were going to give me Neji, but there is some sort of ceremony at the Hyuugas', and he had to pull out. I specifically asked for you, sensei, when Tsunade informed me that the team was short by one member."

Iruka wondered if the Hyuuga ceremony was for stamping an 'x' on Ami's forehead then pushed aside the stray thought so he could concentrate on the scroll in hand. He focused on it closely and gasped when he saw the top left corner. "I've been assigned an A-rank mission," he said in disbelief.

"Tsunade-sama was impressed with the way you handled the Mist-nin, and when I requested you ,she agreed readily." Gai had requested him personally – he was somewhat pleased. Then he realized that the details of the mission were hidden, which meant only the mission leader would know them. It was an extraction mission; the team was supposed to get someone out of somewhere at a specific location for some unknown purpose. He looked up and frowned, ready to voice his objection, then stopped, blushing when he become conscious of what was in Gai's hand.

"Iruka-sensei," Gai said in a loud voice, which probably had the neighboring chuunin reach for their wooden- handled weapons to knock on their walls. "I see you have similar reading interests as Kakashi."

He really should have hidden his Icha Icha books or at least put a different cover on them. He just hadn't expected someone to visit him without announcing it beforehand. "I…" Iruka blushed then looked away. "It was just something confiscated from a student." Iruka said weakly as the man pulled out his bookmark, with the Konoha academy logo on it. Iruka gave up on saving his dignity and decided to concentrate on the mission details instead. As expected, he was teamed with Mighty Gai, but the second member of the team surprised him. Then Iruka realized why he had been invited on the mission, especially by a jounin who had not noticed his existence a week and a half ago.

People had always invited him to be the third person on a date because he was steady, unassuming and never tried to prey on another person's boyfriend or girlfriend. He was the perfect "safe" friend who would chaperone from a distance and move away when not needed.

"Uh," Iruka forced out with false cheer. Just because his love life was over before it started did not mean he was jealous of everyone else's. "Congratulations, Gai-sensei. A mission with Shizune is just what you must have wanted."

"What?" Gai looked up from his examination of Iruka's paperweight, which had started off as a vase from the handicrafts class, and gave the impression of being slightly down at the mention of the medi-nin. "No, no," he said hastily. "It's not what you think, sensei. While I did request you personally because you know my love for Shizune, it was because it would have been tedious to have to explain the situation to someone else. You, who have suffered a broken heart, would understand the pain and the suffering I will undergo as I have been paired off with her…"

Understanding dawned on Iruka. "You asked her?" he said already guessing the answer.

"She was very nice to me." Tears shone in Gai's eyes. "She told me that our Hokage could not function without her and she was also working in the hospital so had little spare time for a relationship…"

"That doesn't seem too bad," Iruka said cautiously.

"But as I was leaving, I heard her tell Tsunade-sama that she did not like green," Gai wailed.

"Green is an underrated color," Iruka agreed feeling a little stunned as he tried hard not to laugh.

"Then they laughed," Gai continued, sounding heartbroken. "They both laughed – that I'd dared to propose her. I was a source of amusement to her…"

"She probably didn't mean it," Iruka said hastily, putting down the scroll to move forward and pat Gai rather awkwardly on the shoulder. "There, there ….I'm sure she doesn't mean it. She's just…"

"She doesn't like me," Gai said in a stunned voice. "She thinks I'm amusing …nice, and entertaining, but …but…"

"It's not that bad," Iruka said encouragingly. "At least no one's paying her to take care of you," he muttered under his breath.

"When Neji turned down the mission, I thought –why not someone who understands --like you," Gai, seated on the couch, continued despondently. "We could sit by the fire and swap manly stories about being rejected."

Iruka hastily glanced at the scroll. A maximum of two weeks was allocated, barring acts of God. Iruka thought of fourteen nights of campfires, retelling stories of his failures and smiled weakly. "I'll get us some tea."

"No, no," Gai standing up with a spring. "I must finish my daily routine before getting ready for the mission. Be at the main gates by opening time with your equipment. Pack for a camping trip. This is going to be the mission of my life where I finally convince my true love of my intentions. If I fail, I promise to run around the village five hundred times on my knuckles."

Iruka nodded helplessly.

"Oh," said Gai as if remembering something interesting. "I'm the team leader for this mission, and I will tell you where we've going when we get there." He walked backwards towards the door. "The springtime of our youth will be spent in worthy causes to serve our village to our utmost …"

Iruka shut the door on Gai's face as he was in mid-speech and sat down on the closest chair. He reread the mission specs to understand the possible natural obstacles they might encounter and the special clothing and equipment they needed to survive. It had been a while since he'd gone out on a mission, and it would be a nice change from his drab existence.

He briefly entertained the idea that they might be going to rescue Kakashi from some hideous dungeon then gave himself a rueful smile. The mission brief said retrieval not rescue, and a jounin, a jounin-level medi-nin and a chuunin sounded like an implausible combination for a rescue mission for Hakate Kakashi. It was more likely they were escorting some important person from one end of the country to the other.

He looked at the wall clock and sighed. There was plenty of time – but he was far too awake to do anything resembling sleep, so he decided to pull out every weapon in his stash and go over them one by one. He hadn't used some of them in some time.

It wouldn't be that bad, Iruka reflected. He did not feel as awkward around Gai as he usually did after their talks, and the spandex-clad man seemed more human now. He seemed much more approachable and, unlike some of the jounin, did not seem to focus on rank too much. And while Gai seemed insensitive at times, he also seemed a decent shinobi all around. And Shizune was one of the best medi-nins available, second to only Tsunade at the moment, though there was hope for Sakura yet. Overall, it was not going to be bad mission, Iruka finally decided.

He left for the main gate early with Izumo and Kotetsu, who were on gate duty that morning. Iruka knew for a fact that the two had emerged from Izumo's flat, hung over from a night of drinking. He had noticed that more and more, the pair seemed to be in the habit of getting drunk and crashing at each other's places; perhaps even when they were not drunk. But so far, it seemed to be just that, two friends sleeping over, and Iruka thought it too early to tease them about it. Those two had been together since genin days, and he did not think whatever was happening with them was anything casual.

He found himself a little excited as he reached the gate to find his two team mates waiting for him. "Good morning Shizune-sama," Iruka greeted the female first. "Good morning, Gai-sensei."

"TEAM," Gai bellowed. "First rule, we do not use titles of honor on this trip. We are all ninjas of Konoha, serving our village the best we can, so we will address each other as equals. IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?"

"Yes Gai-sensei," bellowed Iruka, Shizune, Izumo and Kotetsu.

"Well then," said Gai giving them a blinding smile. "Let's go."

They set off at a reasonable pace, steadily jumping from branch to branch without much hurry. Iruka did not get much information about the mission, apart from the fact that they were meeting a person with information from a place near the Water country.

"Are we going to the border?" Iruka inquired warily.

"There's a tricky bit of water between us and the Water1 Country," Gai said with a smile. "Hard to cross if the person does not have chakra to depend on. So we're going there."

"We're meeting a civilian spy?" Iruka inquired.

"Something like that," Shizune said evasively, and Iruka remembered the need-to-know aspect of the mission.

"Sorry," he said concentrating on landing on a tree branch which had a nest on it.

"Did you bring the scroll?" Gai asked Shizune in the ensuing awkward silence. Iruka knew enough not to ask what scroll.

"Yes," said the medi-nin with a nod. "In my backpack – but I don't think we'll need it."

"I believe in being prepared for the worst," Gai said with enthusiasm as if the worst was something to look forward to.

"I'm sure you do," Shizune said a little tartly, and Iruka watched the jounin's face fall.

"If we're going to the meeting spot today," Iruka hastily intervened. "Why do we have a two-week duration for the mission?"

"Because our contact might not be able to get out at the exact time," Gai explained.

Iruka frowned, remembering that the mission scroll had mentioned something about transporting the person from one place to another. Were they escorting a civilian who was fleeing his home country with information? But he decided to put such speculations aside as they continued on towards their destination.

They reached the rendezvous spot a little before dusk and decided to set up camp in a small clearing they found in the woods. They had chosen a spot close to the river which acted as a border between the two countries. The river fed both Fire country tributaries, and the other side of the river was considered no-mans-land, a neutral territory between the two uneasy allies.

Gai distributed their work fairly; Iruka was in charge of perimeter security – he was to set up some early-warning systems without using chakra which would alert even the most incurious passerby. Shizune was in charge of setting up camp – the tents and the fire. Gai collected firewood and cooked them all an astonishing meal -- even better than what Iruka prepared at home--from their dried rations, which weren't the most palatable on the best of days.

"I didn't know you could cook," Shizune said, sounding surprised, as they sat by the campfire eating their meal.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me," Gai said a little sadly but then turned to serve Iruka some more, breaking the moment before it was properly formed.

Unlike what Iruka feared, they did not swap depressing events of their lives while sitting in a circle around the campfire. Instaed, they told amusing stories about past missions…

"…came to Tsunde-sama and asked her if she could sew his foreskin back on. Seems he didn't want to be circumcised anymore…"

Argued over things theyh ad in common

"Naruto definitely loves Sakura—"

"No, no, my fine friend, his only love is the delicious noodle in broth—"

"Oh, you two are blind! Any woman can see it!...It's that Uchiha boy he's…"

…and once in a while Iruka would see Shizune look at Gai oddly as if seeing the man for the first time. He smiled to himself and thought, _You turned down a good man, Shizune-sama_.

…and, finally, sleep.

Iruka woke up at the same time Gai did and rolled in his bedroll, reaching for his weapons pouch. Shizune awoke as the other two came to their feet and reached for her backpack quietly. The sun was rising in the east, and the faint light streaming in through the leafy canopy colored their world a blurry-green. It was still early in the morning, an excellent time to catch them unaware, Iruka was sure, since most people were known to sleep deeply just before dawn.

"What is it?" Shizune asked, looking around in the semi-darkness.

"Someone sprang my traps," Iruka replied in a low voice.

"I didn't hear anything."

"I designed the traps so if they were sprung, I'd be the only one to know," Iruka replied with a shrug, not bothering to tell her that he'd tied a string which lead from the traps to his big toe.

"How many do you count, Iruka-sensei?" Gai asked in a normal voice.

Iruka bit back the urge to tell the older man to whisper, since it was probably useless, and said in a low-pitched voice, "I counted nine all around us – apart from the obvious opening in front of us."

"I'd say a few more behind the first wave," Gai said, dropping his voice. "What do you think? Fight?"

"Too dark," Iruka said with a frown. "They already know the territory if they're from here."

"We had better avoid a confrontation with them so close to a large body of water," Gai agreed. "If they are the ninja from the Hidden Waterfall Village, some of their strongest ninjutsu is based on water."

"I didn't think you were the type to back off from a fight, Gai," Shizune sounded stunned. Iruka was equally taken aback but decided not to voice his astonishment.

"I'm not so vain I'd let me fellow ninja and my mission go awry in my search of a fight," Gai scoffed loudly, and Iruka could see again that this side of the jounin was new to the medi-nin. It was new to him as well, but Gai hadn't exactly proposed to Iruka.

"We have to break through their ranks," Shizune observed. "And move away from the river as fast as possible. If we get herded into it…"

"If we move into Konoha they might not attack us unless they want to declare war on us," Iruka said thoughtfully. "Maybe they don't intend to let us get onto safe ground."

"We have no choice but to fight back," Gai observed. "Shizune and I'll take the front – unless, sensei, you are well-versed in offensive fighting."

"I'll watch your back," Iruka said without missing a beat. No matter what the situation, he knew exactly what his strengths were, and he was not the sort that utilized brute strength or berserker attacks. He silently palmed his kunai and crouched low. His low chakra made it difficult for most to detect him on most occasions, and he could bring it down even more when needed. In the confusion Gai and Shizune were about to create, Iruka was sure he could sneak up from behind for a surprise attack.

"Did they find him?" Shizune asked as the prepared for their attack. "Do you think…"

"It could be a regular border patrol, and perhaps we were careless," Gai said confidently. "We did not specify a meeting point so …"

"Now," said Shizune moving forward in the blink of an eye. Never having seen her in actual combat, Iruka was impressed by the speed with which she moved. Her needles were flying in a half arc, even as she moved forward swiftly.

"KONOHA WHIRLWIND!" As expected from Gai, Iruka thought as he ducked lower. If the fight was to continue at this rate, he might not need to do anything, Iruka speculated as a ninja hidden in the branches dropped heavily down. Shizune might lace her needles with sleeping potion instead of poison, but it was just as effective in a fight to knock out an opponent.

Still, Iruka decided to move secretly behind the enemy just in case. He sank lower to the ground then froze when he realized something. He had really sunk into the ground – up to his ankles.

Oh shit, water ninjutsu…he looked up to see Shizune was also in the same predicament as he was, so there was no need for him to shout a warning. There were one or more water users in the group and they were using the water from the nearby river to turn the ground they were standing on into mud. Mud laced with chakra, as gripping as super glue and nearly impossible to break free from. Iruka automatically fell back to what he'd learned when Kakashi had stuck him to the box in the bottom of the academy basement. He concentrated on breaking down the chakra around his feet and absorbing it into him. It was slow going, since the mud was constantly rotating, pulling him deeper into the ground. He was sunk up to mid calf on one leg, listening to Gai take down enemies around him, as he pulled free. One of his sandals was lost in the mud, and he was in the danger of sinking back in as soon as he'd broken free.

Using the water-walking technique, Iruka ran over to Shizune to help her out when the ground underneath gave a heave. Iruka fell onto his butt in an undignified heap – both of Shizune's legs snapped like dry kindling, and he heard the double snap reverberate even as she screamed in pain.

Iruka jumped to his feet and then moved swiftly in front of the fallen medi-nin, shielding her from the kunai that came toward her. He parried them all away, knowing that should he move, they might pierce her in her helpless state. He threw a couple of shuriken in the direction from which the kunai had originated, though he had little hope of hitting the target.

"Sensei." Shizune's voice was surprisingly calm. "I'm free." Iruka turned around fearing the worst, and though it wasn't as bad as he'd expected, it was slightly distressing. Her legs were free of the mud but they were both broken messily, white bone showing through the skin, caked with mud, but still visible enough. "I need to set the bones before I can heal my legs," she explained. "I've cut off the pain receptors and blood supply to the lower legs, which is the best I can do right now. If you can help me…"

Gai landed on the mud next to her, picking her up in one clean move and tossing her over his shoulder. Iruka winced at the jarring her already broken legs were undergoing, but he knew they did not have time to stop and give first aid. Instead, nodding to Gai to show he understood, he leapt up, intending to reach a tree branch.

It was then that a body of water hit them. It was a sheer mountain of water, taller than the tallest building in Konoha, and churning in the brown water, Iruka could see floating logs, rocks and even fish.

"Oh my God," Iruka thought as the water hit them. "They brought the river down on us."

1 I for starters have no idea where the Hidden village of the Waterfall is. I assumed it'd be in the Water country. This village was shown in the second special. The village is hidden behind a waterfall, and the entrance is hidden so ninjas from other villages can't attack the village of the Waterfall. I know it's near the Konoha border, because it's mentioned in one of the filler arcs where Tsunade fears an attack from the village and moves Gai and all the senior ninja to guard the border. Episodes 197-200 arc.

A/N – The next few Chapters are being processed but I do have a nice Gundam Wing fanfic which I have ignored for a long, long time. I need to put up a chapter even though I balk at the idea of writing a threesome. (Er…never mind) Chapter 12 will be posted day after tomorrow. Thursday – local time.


	12. Chapter 12

Part 12

Part 12

Iruka held his breath as long as he could, not fighting the initial flow of water. Instead, he relaxed and opened his eyes after five seconds, knowing the stupidity of trying to swim blind in a churning mess. The flood of water had pushed him towards the river and the river itself, with the addition of a large quantity of water, was a choppy, foaming monstrosity.

Iruka broke to the surface, gasping, and looked around for his two companions. He could not see much, apart from a large branch coming his way, and was forced to dive to avoid getting hit. He surfaced further downriver and looked around again, wet hair sticking to his face like annoying strings. Iruka relaxed as the worst of the debris was washed away; the water was still choppy, but he could handle that. He looked around, eyes half-closed, spotted his companions, and breathed a sigh of relief. Gai still had Shizune with him, and they were churning their way through the water towards the far shore.

Iruka gave himself a wry grin when he saw that Gai's face was bright red and his hair was standing on end – the man had opened one or two of his chakra-gates to swim across the torrent. Even as he swam towards them, Iruka noted that Gai was swimming all wrong; his feet were kicking powerfully but above the water most of the time – like nearly all the ninja who depended on their walk-on-water chakra control, Gai wasn't a great swimmer. Ninjas swam for fun, but fun and real life did not usually mix, and any body of water they came across in their missions was crossed on foot. Swimming was not advisable when carrying enough metal gear to sink a small boat.

But Iruka had been one of those people who'd enjoyed swimming, and he was also the part-time swimming instructor for the Academy. He swam easily towards the other two, letting the flow of the water help him. He kicked powerfully underwater and did not wheel his arms like Gai was doing; instead he swam with slow, regular strokes, reserving his strength. When his feet hit firm ground, he stood up and waded the rest of the way towards the shore, pushing back his hair with one hand.

"Iruka-sensei." The panting and spluttering Gai looked surprised to see Iruka emerge almost unscathed from the water. "You're all right?"

"How's Shizune-sama?" Iruka asked, falling to his knees beside the two and helped Gai lower her carefully to the ground. Of course he was all right; their medic was the one who was injured.

"I'm fine," she said, her voice unwavering. "I might not be Tsunade-sama, but I can still heal my legs. I just need some time…" Iruka noted with a wince that her legs were still broken and were bleeding sluggishly now. "…and I should be grateful the water washed away the worst of the mud. It's going to take at least a day for the bones to mend properly -- you should leave me and move on."

"No," Iruka said firmly.

"My rival would never forgive me if left an injured teammate behind," Gai declared. "In his words, '_In the world of the ninja those who violate the rules and laws are called trash. However, those who don't take care of their comrades are worse than trash.'_ One of us should stay, and the other should go on with the mission."

"Is this mission still top secret or can you tell me about it?" Iruka asked, looking at his two bedraggled companions.

"You want to be the person to go on," the med-nin observed as Gai picked her up again. Iruka picked up her backpack wordlessly and moved towards the undergrowth behind Gai, knowing their position on the river bank was far too exposed.

"I can hardly fight off five or six ninja if those on the other side come across," Iruka pointed out. "But I can meet up with one civilian and escort him here."

"Very well," said Gai after a few seconds of contemplation. "If Neji had been here he'd have said it's destiny. In your backpack is a scroll you'll need. Go northeast from here, and in two hours you should get to the city limits of the Waterfall country's main City. It's small so doesn't have an official name. There is a small bar called Citadel – you can hardly miss it. Go there ,and if he wants, our contact will approach you."

"How will he know m…?"

"You should hurry," Shizune said. "If the ambush we walked into was because his cover was blown, we might not have much time. But first, there are some medical supplies I need from that bag." Iruka handed it over, scowling when he realized they'd lost nearly all their traveling gear in the flash-flood. Being Konoha ninja, they were able to survive in the wild easily, but it did not mean they liked it.

"You're going to a civilian bar, so shall I suggest a disguised sensei?" Gai said brightly. "We could have Shizune-sama shave your hair off and…"

"I'll get going," Iruka said hastily as he stood up and shouldered the backpack, much lighter but still dripping wet. He broke off into a rapid jog before disappearing into the undergrowth, hoping that the other two would be all right. He set a steady pace, unsure whether the predicted travel time was based on traveling at Gai-speed or at normal ninja speed.

Iruka reached the edge of the city in about three hours, tired from his unexpected swim, clothes drying uncomfortably against his skin, hungry and thirsty. The edge of the city was nothing breathtaking to look at – rubbish heaps, skinny dogs and even skinnier kids; obviously the Water country was not exactly a prosperous place.

He opened the backpack and took stock of its contents to see if it would give him any indication of what to do next. The scroll turned out to be a medical drawing with an outline of a man. On the outline were three points and read, "_to unseal, hit all three point at once_." Iruka frowned; he was supposed to unseal someone. That was not very helpful.

Removing his flak vest, hitai-ate and weapon pouch, Iruka stuffed them into the backpack, leaving his favorite kunai in his pocket. As much as he hated the thought of going unarmed, he was going undercover, so he did not want to be obvious about it. His sandals and the rest of his gear shouted ninja, but he hoped it was not that obvious – some civilians wore ninja clothing when traveling, since it was easier to move about in. Then he strolled into the city, keeping a wary eye out for anyone looking official. He need not have worried about his torn and mud-caked clothing: he looked like everyone else in that part of the city.

The Citadel was not that hard to find; it was a glowing sign over a small wooden shack. Iruka knocked on the door, and a small panel swung open to reveal a pair of sharp eyes.

The man behind the door took Iruka in and frowned. "You haven't been here before, have you?"

"A friend recommended this place to me," Iruka answered truthfully.

"What's your kink?" the man asked.

Iruka thought of Kakashi instantly but realized he could hardly say that. Anyway, what did kink mean, was it sexual or something else altogether? "Well…um…uh…" Iruka blushed, unable to think past Kakashi, even at that crucial moment when he was supposed to lie. "Uh….dogs…" he finally squeezed out.

The door swung back noiselessly to reveal a dirty stairway lit by yellow torches leading down. Feeling as if he was heading towards Orochimaru's hidden chambers, Iruka walked down, heart beating with trepidation. He wondered if he'd signed up for an orgy involving dogs when he reached the bottom of the staircase and another closed door. He pushed it open and walked into another small room, where a guy twice as big as Ibiki stood, holding out his palm.

"Weapons," the man intoned in a voice that did not leave room for protest. Iruka reluctantly handed over his weapons and was handed a small receipt with a number on it. Looking at the shelves on the side of the room, he saw various ninja weapons stashed in the niches and nodded. He carefully noted where his own weapons stash was kept before he realized the man was holding out his hand, indicating some sort of payment.

"How much?' Iruka inquired shakily. He wasn't exactly loaded.

The man held out four fingers, and Iruka felt his pockets without protest, unearthing a small collection of loose change. From it he counted out the required amount,dropping it into the unmoving palm. The door at the other side of the room opened, and Iruka walked through – and gasped.

The smell, the sound and the sight made him pause. It was a large room, filled to the brim with people ,many of them from out of country, from the look of their dress Some of them were ninjas, more specifically missing nin, and they moved around as if they were proud of it. It was not, as Iruka had assumed, a brothel or anything resembling one. It was more like a rather open gambling house; the men moved from table to table placing bets, while the few women present were also professionally dressed and looked more interested in betting than catching the attention of a male. As they walked around, they sipped drinks, smoked pipes and sometimes inhaled deeply while holding their faces over small smoking wooden pots.

The betting table attendants were all males dressed in black and looked as if they were also retired ninjas who doubled as bouncers. They were probably able to catch anyone using ninjutsu to cheat at a table.

The smells were overpowering: unwashed bodies, expensive perfumes, drugs, cigarette smoke and even animals. He fought the urge to scrub his nose, since it would be considered impolite, but tried to move away from the entrance towards a discreet corner.

Iruka was not sure how exactly he was to meet his contact. The room was so large and filled with so many people, he was sure he could be there for the next few days and still not make contact with his target. For all he knew, the man he was supposed to meet there might not have arrived yet. If it was a man. He hoped he was not supposed to drag a woman through the woods – now that would be fun.

He moved around the edge of the room slowly, stepping over some broken glass pushed into the corner. The place was not a high-class gambling den; it was too dirty, and some of the people present were dressed in rags. There were a few well-dressed men, guarded by a ring of bodyguards, perhaps those who were not accepted in high-class betting shops or were reluctant to show their faces in more legal establishments. Iruka could see that all in all, it was an excellent place for picking up information. Ninjas from different villages talked as they gambled, drank and smoked away their brains. Apparently, this was not an exclusive club – if a person wanted in, he or she paid a reasonable price and walked in.

Iruka looked around, trying to blend in, wondering if he should place a bet on one of the numerous tables or simply sit back and drink like some seemed to do.

In the end, he settled for a drink, since he'd never gambled before – unless he counted the childish games he'd played when he was younger. He looked around for a place to order drinks and saw it was on the other side of the room, across a vast sea of people, most of whom were inhaling smoke. Moving closer to one of the many smoking pots placed around the room on three legged stools , Iruka sniffed carefully and identified a type of drug which put the user into a dreamy trance. However, from the smell if it, the amount of drugs in the pot was very minute.

"You can choose your flavor," someone spoke right next to him, making Iruka jump. "Then proceed to the inner room and name it. You'll have to pay for it – what you get here is a free sample."

"Is it the same in each pot?" Iruka asked, looking at the speaker, a small man who appeared to be an employee rather than a fun seeker. Slight chakra flotation said ninja, but like Iruka, he had a low chakra level, and unlike him, pathetic control. Not much of a threat.

"Different flavors," the man said firmly. "If you don't know how to name it, you can go ask by pot number."

"I think I'll pass for now," Iruka said with a shake of the head. "I'll just get something to drink." Wanting to get away from the man, Iruka nodded towards the bar in the distance. If the man was his contact, he'd have some identification, but most likely he wasn't.

"What is your kink, sir?" the man inquired, sounding polite. The same question as he was asked at the door—should he give a different answer or say the same thing? Was this a test of some sort to see if Iruka was serious?

"Uh…dogs," Iruka said feeling a little panicked. What if there was an inner room where people did despicable things with dogs?

"Ah," the man nodded understandingly. "Dog fighting and dog races will start in a couple of hours. Until then, might I suggest you call one of the attendants and order a drink? Feel free to walk around and join in anything else that might strike your fancy." The attendant bowed low and walked away, leaving Iruka sagging with relief. It was dog fights and racing he'd signed up for; while he did not really know much about that, it had to be better than screwing one.

Iruka looked around for an attendant to call for drinks. There were several boys walking around carrying trays of drinks, most of whom were chosen for their strength rather than for any aesthetic pleasure. He followed the movements of one of the boys, taller than the rest, with dirty blond hair plastered down around his head. The hair looked greasy, with pieces of dirt stuck to it, making it look particularly disgusting. He walked with a tray on his shoulder, partially covering his face, body stooped as if to hide his height or from weariness. Iruka saw that the boy was limping slightly – looking down, he could see that the boy was barefoot, like all the other attendants, and had cut his sole on broken glass. He left bloody footprints each time he took a step. Like all the other boys who served drinks, this one was dressed in old clothes, far too large for his slender frame. The large top hung to one side, baring one shoulder, and the trousers were held up by a piece of twine roped around his waist.

"Drinks," one of the patrons would call, and a boy would run over to take an order.

Iruka shrugged mentally. "Drinks," he called. No one came; maybe he wasn't aggressive enough. He just was not cut out for ordering people around. He looked around, spotted a small boy with a laden drinks tray walk by him and stopped him by stepping into his path. "Drinks," he repeated, slightly embarrassed. Close up, the boy looked around nine or ten, face pinched with tiredness and dirt-smeared to boot. Iruka had the urge to tell the boy to wash his face and clean under his nails but decided his teacher mode was hardly going to be appreciated there.

"My tray is full," the boy answered, eyes downcast, probably something they were told to do. "I'll call someone right away, sir."

The "sir" grated on Iruka's nerves, and he bit his tongue. He was not here to stop child labor but to retrieve a person. However, he could not help thinking that if the children who worked there were treated that badly, just how much worse the dogs would be treated. He suddenly did not want to see dogs tear each others' throats out or anything that shocking.

The boy looked around, spotted the tall blond Iruka had noted earlier, and walked over to him. The smaller boy directed the blond towards Iruka then walked off rapidly. Iruka looked around now, feeling even guiltier about forcing a boy with cut-up feet to carry a drink for him from across the room as he approached him.

"Your orders, sir," the boy said, not quite meeting Iruka's eye. His voice was pitched low so Iruka had to strain to catch his voice.

Iruka froze, seeing the face of the blond up close for the first time. One side of his face was dirt-smeared but looked pale and whole. The other side was ravaged, a scar as thick as Iruka's thumb ran down half his face, over one white, blind eye. A face Iruka was achingly familiar with, even though he'd only seen it once…

…_a pretty face, bordering on beautiful, the type you'd expect on a girl or an Uchiha Sasuke. The only thing that saved the face from being perfect was the scar over his eye. It was a rather long scar, reaching almost to the jaw, making his mouth slightly crooked. A rather kissable mouth…_

Things started to add up slowly before his eyes.

"_Have a few things to get ready before my mission for the research division"_

The research division, which specialized in everything from waterproof makeup to chakra sealing. The scroll in his backpack, used to unseal someone or rather someone's chakra pathways, so a ninja could pass for a civilian. The way Gai and Shizune had avoided answering his questions about the person they were meeting.

"_We're meeting a civilian spy?" _

"_Something like that."_

Even Gai's almost ready agreement that Iruka come to meet their contact and the statement the contact would approach him and not the other way around.

The perfect disguise for a man whose true face was only seen by a select few. Even his first mission for ANBU…

_... had been sent in as an assassin – disguised as __the__ son of a poor village trying to earn some extra money._

"K…Kakashi," Iruka breathed, eyes wide, his heart beating wildly.

A/N- would love some reviews. Plz, let me know what you think.

Thank you for all those who have reviewed so far.


	13. Chapter 13

Part 13

Part 13

Iruka felt his heart beat uncontrollably at the sight of his …er…crush. He had been able to forget Kakashi during the mission; he had even been able to convince himself that he was finally getting over it. It was apparently a lie, since the moment he laid eyes on Kakashi it was all he could do to stop himself from hugging him. The face looked haggard, with tired eyes, and closer examination showed that it didn't look as young as it had at first glance. Kakashi looked like an eighteen year old who had been through hell. Iruka so wanted to lean forward and brush back the hair from Kakashi's forehead, but he was becoming fascinated by the facial expression on the now blond-haired man.

Iruka had always blushed easily and so had been the source of entertainment for many of his peers. But his blushing was nothing compared to the way Kakashi colored up. Being lighter than Iruka, he seemed to turn three shades red, and the flush seemed to spread from his face down to his exposed shoulder. It was like watching a forest fire spread, and Iruka had to fight back a sudden snicker at his next thought. No wonder the man wore a mask – no ninja had the right to blush like that. It was adorable but a dead giveaway where emotions were concerned. He had the urge to lean forward and wipe away the smudges of dirt from Kakashi's face and…

"Where's Gai?" Iruka felt his heart stop and drop like a rock to his feet. Kakashi actually looked around as if expecting to see the green-spandex-clad man. "Why are you here? Where's the team I requested?"

It was a good thing Iruka still had his spare kunai in his pocket, since he'd have to dig his heart from the sole of his foot.

"We…were attacked on the way," Iruka said, sounding apologetic, misery seeping into his bones like a poison. What had he been expecting after the way they had parted, a warm reception?. "Shizune was hurt and Gai had to stay back to…"

"Just how badly hurt?" said Kakashi with a scowl. "And Neji?"

"Hyuuga ceremony," Iruka said, head down. "Gai asked me to come in his place, since Shizune broke both her legs and someone needed to watch over her…"

"Gai is always interfering like this," Kakashi said, sounding displeased. "He could have chosen to mind his own business instead of trying to jeopardize the mission with his outdated ideas of romance."

"I'm sorry," Iruka mumbled, downcast. "But since I'm here, is there anything I can do?" He did not think he should try to defend Gai just then, in case it angered Kakashi too much. "Is there a plan?" he asked.

In answer, Kakashi glared down at him, his mismatching eyes narrowed. Then he looked around and scowled, "I get off work in a couple of hours. Think you can stay out of trouble until then …what are you in here for, anyway?"

"Dogs," Iruka mumbled.

Kakashi scowled and looked away, then seemed to go blank. Iruka looked up hastily to see that the smaller serving boy whom he'd stopped earlier was looking at them with a frown. Though they had not been talking for long, ordering drinks probably did not take that long, and their conversation had been far too detailed for a mere request for a drink. Iruka tensed, wondering if the boy would approach them…

"Is there a problem here?" It was the man in black who had spoken to Iruka earlier. Iruka fought the urge to turn around but rather let Kakashi deal with it, since he was the one the attendant had spoken to. Perhaps there was a policy in the club where the customers were not referred to for anything other than the most serious of issues.

"No, sir." Kakashi's voice sounded low and servile. "This gentleman said he was interested in dogs, so I was offering him a quick peek at our collection."

"Surely you do not want to go to the kennels, sir," the attendant sounded slightly repulsed. "It is not a place for visitors."

"But I do like to see them beforehand," Iruka replied, grasping the situation. He had an idea that no one went down to these kennels very often, which was probably why Kakashi wanted to take him down there. Perhaps they could have a proper conversation without having a room full of people trying to eavesdrop on them.

"Very well," the man said with a shrug, as if he found Iruka's request strange but could not be bothered to argue. "You…" to Kakashi "…you're the one who feeds them these days, aren't you, take this gentleman down and show him what he wants to see."

"Yes, sir," said Kakashi with another bow and motioned Iruka to follow him. Iruka obliged immediately, starting to walk behind the taller figure when the attendant stopped him with a firm hand on the bicep.

Iruka turned around, tensing for a fight but not yet reaching for his kunai. "Yes?'

"He gets off duty in another hour," the attendant told Iruka. "If he's your type, I suggest you take him with you to a room outside. We don't run a brothel here. The clientele we deal with have far too varied a taste, but we don't interfere if you find your entertainment here. Just don't do whatever you do during his working hours. It's bad for business."

"Eh?" Iruka said, perplexed. "I… that is, really do …er… dogs…" he stammered then blushed. "I…"

"You're new here, so that's the only reason I'm telling you this," the attendant continued. "There is a proper brothel down the road if you want some entertainment." The advice was given in a kindly tone as if Iruka was an idiot. "I saw it in your face you wanted him, so…"

"He just reminded me of someone I knew before," Iruka said, looking at his feet and answering truthfully, knowing that a total lie was beyond him. "Startled me," he added softly. "But, now, I really do want to see the dogs I'm betting on, nothing else. So if you'll excuse me…" He shook his hand free and started to walk towards Kakashi, who was standing by a side door waiting patiently. The undercover ninja looked relaxed, but Iruka noted that he was still holding onto the serving tray, his fingers spread, ready to throw it like a Frisbee or a weapon should the need arise.

He followed Kakashi in silence through the side door onto a small landing and another flight of steps leading upwards. Head held down, he was paying attention to the steps rather than the destination when a firm hand grabbed him by the neck. Startled, Iruka stumbled, grabbing the hand that was cutting off his airway for balance as well as to try and ease the grip. He looked up to see Kakashi's face glaring at him, both eyes fixed on him intently

"K…Ka…" Iruka wheezed as the hand the tightened further, making his eyes water.

"When did you see my face?" Kakashi asked in a low voice.

"What!" Iruka spluttered as he gasped for breath. He was going to be killed in a small back alley stairway because he was unable to curb his curiosity. He'd known he was destined for a short life…

"When. Did. You. See. My. Face," Kakashi said, pronouncing each word slowly which was probably just as well, since the lack of air was making Iruka's ears buzz.

"Hos…pital," Iruka gasped out. Kakashi's grip was stronger than his, and the hand Iruka was picking away uselessly at felt as solid as metal. But Iruka had a hidden kunai -- he also had more chakra than Kakashi, since the Copy-nin had none at the moment--and was sure he could manage a few seals even when his brain was short-circuiting due to lack of oxygen.

But he could not feel the intent to kill, and even as he spoke, Iruka could see that Kakashi was relaxing. He waited for the Copy-nin to move back, releasing his neck, and took a few deep breaths to make sure his windpipe wasn't crushed. It felt fine, and even the urge to cough disappeared as he made a conscious effort to relax his throat. Most ninjas were taught at a young age how to suppress the need to sneeze and cough at the most inappropriate of times, since a sneeze could effectively get someone killed in enemy territory as surely as a sword to the stomach.

"So it was you," Kakashi said, watching Iruka recover with a blank face. "I thought so."

"I don't see what the big deal is," Iruka said a little hoarsely. He knew he should be angry, but staring at Kakashi's tired face, all he could drag up was mild annoyance. The man had a face most people would die for, and here he was trying to cover it up and throwing a fit when he realized someone had seen it. "Your face isn't the sort that needs to be covered," Iruka said truthfully, slowly coming to realize a few things.

Kakashi's expression remained neutral but a flush speared over his features, clearly evident in the semi-darkness. Had he been wearing his mask, he would have been unreadable, but without it…Iruka couldn't help it; he leaned forward and brushed his lips faintly against the other man's cheek. Kakashi smelled of smoke, dirt and sweat – not exactly a pleasant combination, but Iruka could not help himself, it was still Kakashi. Kakashi stepped back sharply as if Iruka had stabbed him with a kunai and took two steps up.

"Stop that," he all but snarled before limping up the steps towards the faint square of light in the distance.

They reached the top and stepped out, Iruka wrinkling his nose at the smell. It was the smell of rotting meat, wet dogs and blood – they had reached the kennels. The kennels were an enclosed space about the size of the Konoha Academy dojo, with a pen in the middle, surrounded by strands of chakra and barbed wire. The area was well lit by spluttering torches and, from the looks of it, Iruka was not the only person who was interested in viewing the dogs before a fight.

There were several other heavily-robed ninjas, most of them covering the lower half of their faces with cloth as if to stifle the smell. A female with a scar on the side of her face (the way she wore it proudly, making no move to cover it screamed ninja) was walking around peering through the wire, holding a delicate white handkerchief over her nose.

Iruka stepped closer, shivering as a gust of wind blew over him, feeling the sudden change in temperature after being in a crowded, underground room with little ventilation. He peered through the partition as well, squinting until his eyes got used to it after the sudden light of the surrounding torches. He could see vague moving dark shapes, which resolved into dogs under further scrutiny.

Iruka leaned closer despite the smell, breathing through his mouth from practice to take a closer look. The smell was stronger inside the pen, and he also gasped aloud when he saw the insides. He was not exactly a dog lover like the Inzukas; he was more of a kind person who liked all animals and did not believe in needless suffering. He had been the only one who had refused to kill the rabbit during his camping practices and still let some other Academy teacher handle that. It was not that he was against killing; given a choice between his life and rabbits, he would kill the fluff ball without blinking; he just did not believe in senseless killing when something else would do equally well.

He also did not believe in senseless torture of animals.

The dogs in the pens were a mistreated lot – bleeding in places, full of festering sores and some with evidently broken legs. He did not even want to know what sort of internal injuries they were suffering. He took a step back, realizing the smell was that of gangrene and rotting flesh, some of it alive. The cages that kept them separate were small, damp-looking and had not been cleaned in a while. Some of the dogs were either dead or dying, and the pitiful whines that filled the air were more than he could bear. Iruka took a step back and straightened, looking for Kakashi.

He spotted the taller man immediately; he was with the woman, probably answering some question she had asked. Iruka moved closer to them, purposefully keeping his eyes fixed on Kakashi, not wanting to see the disturbing sight so close to him.

"…ma'am," he was saying. "The black one there is a good fighter – was before he broke his leg--but should be all right in a couple of days. See the shoulders, can push a …"

Iruka tuned out the description and looked away, feeling vaguely nauseated. He took a deep breath and regretted it as the smell filtered through his nose to the back of his throat and lodged there like a rock. Iruka walked towards Kakashi with every intention of getting out of the hell hole. Seeing Iruka approach, Kakashi broke away, bowing low to the woman and limping towards Iruka slowly.

"Sir?" he said softly.

"Get me out of here," Iruka all but snarled, angry at Kakashi, though he knew the condition the animals were in was not the other ninja's fault. "I …I've changed my mind. I don't want to ….to…"

"Did you come here straight away?" Kakashi asked in a low voice as a gust of wind blew over them.

"Uh!"

"Do you have a place to stay?"

"No," Iruka said, realizing just how repulsed he was by the whole thing. "Should do something about the dogs," he told Kakashi in a low voice. "Maybe…"

"It's not a part of the mission," Kakashi's voice was as cold as a blade of ice. "Sensei, I suggest you leave …I'm staying in a small boarding house ear the north end, a small yellow house with a tiled roof. The only one in this district, so you can't miss it. I'm on the second floor, a small room with a futon and washbasin. Just go…"

"I…" Iruka stammered, still reeling from what he'd seen. He could understand killing humans, some just asked for it, but animals that had no idea what was happening to them, it was sickening. "My stuff…"

"Give me your token," Kakashi said. "Leave through the side exit. I'll be there in an hour's time. I'll bring your stuff … if someone asks, I'll tell them you went ahead to get a room for the two of us…"

Iruka flushed when he realized Kakashi must have heard the advice he had been given by the attendant in the room below. But he was starting to realize that he just might not be cut out for the undercover business of gambling dens and dog torture chambers. He gratefully nodded his head and made his way to the exit Kakashi had pointed out. Right then he did not care if everyone thought he was so full of lust for one dirty serving boy that he needed to leave in a hurry, leaving all his gear behind.

Kakashi's room was easy to find – a small, cramped place smelling faintly of mildew, but clean enough. Iruka stood in the middle of the room, feeling overwhelmed by the entire day, wondering how to proceed next. He was not sure how to act or react, for that matter, as he stood there numbly. Finally, spurred by the sound of falling rain on the rooftops, Iruka took off his sandals and sat gingerly on the edge of the futon and took stock of the room he was in.

Kakashi had chosen well. The room was not overly large but had two windows facing opposite directions. One window overlooked the rooftops, while the other opened into a back alley. Though there was only one front entrance, in a tight situation, the windows would provide more than one escape route. The roof overhead was corrugated metal, and the rain drops fell on it like pebbles, but there were no visible leaks, and the temperature inside the room remained constant.

After lighting the single lamp, Iruka did a quick survey of Kakashi's gear, noting that there wasn't so much as a kitchen knife in his collection. He sat back when he heard the tread of light footsteps up the wooden staircase and waited for Kakashi to come in. Kakashi walked in casually, now wearing an old pair of sandals and carrying Iruka's gear over his shoulder. His was wet, and his hair stuck to his face in limp strands, making him look younger.

Kakashi threw the weapons at Iruka and also a small paper bag. Iruka opened the paper bag and was assaulted by the smell of food and realized just how hungry he was. He looked up at Kakashi, who was walking across the room to open a window, and then down at the small unidentifiable fried object, which smelled delicious.

"Is this your dinner?" he asked tentatively.

"I already ate," Kakashi replied shortly as he continued to look out the window.

"Uh…thanks," said Iruka as he also stood up, unable to remain seated, since it was rather awkward. He took a bite out of the UFO, decided it was greasy, full of things which should not be eaten if he was expected to live a long, healthy life -- and finished it off in two more bites. He was a ninja and was not expected to live past thirty.

"How many attacked you?" Kakashi asked as he turned away from the window and looked straight at Iruka.

"Eight, maybe more," Iruka replied automatically, realizing he was making a mission report to a senior. "It was while we were camping in the area between the two countries …"

"Was there a message?' Kakashi asked. "I left a message requesting Gai to come and pick up the information I had collected."

"No," Iruka shook his head. "Gai-sensei did not mention anything like that. Was it left in a specific place?"

"Gai knows where," Kakashi said shortly. "So, in conclusion the border patrol must have stumbled onto my message and decided to capture you. Maybe they were planning on waiting to see if the person who originally left the message would come back and capture him in the process."

"What do we do now?" Iruka asked, fighting the urge to lick his fingers.

"I'll give you the scroll with all the information I have collected in the past few weeks, and you can leave," Kakashi said coldly. "You should be able to avoid the patrols and get to the border. If I know Gai, he'll have reinforcements by now."

"What about you?" Iruka asked. "How long are you going to stay here?"

"That is none of your concern, sensei." Again the cold tone that did not leave room for questioning. "Just do your part."

"Uh," said Iruka looking down awkwardly. "There were a lot of missing nin there in the Citadel today. I was wondering – were they from Konoha as well?"

"Some were," Kakashi said briefly and then sighed as if Iruka was being slow witted. "Every village has a few missing nin, and not all of them are dangerous. Some of them are the disgruntled genin who never get promoted. After failing the chuunin exam a few times, they get disillusioned, blame the village for their failure and run away. Sometimes, we do what Orochimaru did with Kabuto and have a few high-level ninja defect to other villages and live there as genin. Excellent source of information."

"Oh," said Iruka feeling slightly foolish. He was not well-versed in the art of spying, since he'd spent most of his time inside the village. He looked around a little, wondering what to say, then finally settled on what had been bothering him from the beginning. "Let me treat that cut on your foot."

"No need."

"The least I can do for the food," Iruka replied irritably as he walked forward. "Was it broken glass?"

"My mistake," Kakashi replied as he evaded Iruka's hand and sat on the futon. "Yesterday some bastard tried to take a swipe at me, and I dodged. So today he decided to see if I was really blind on my blind-side. I had to step on the glass to prove I was."

"You can see from that eye," Iruka confirmed what had been nagging him even as he fell to his knees and undid the strap of Kakashi's sandal. Close up, he realized Kakashi had washed before entering the room; he was clean, and he smelled like he always did. Earlier, Iruka had assumed the rain had washed away the dirt smudges on the other ninja's face …now he realized that it had been washed away deliberately.

"Rin was a good medi-nin," Kakashi said almost absent-mindedly, as if he was thinking of something else. Iruka turned up the foot and studied the cut, wondering who Rin was. Whoever he or she was, that person was no longer a medi-nin. Since most medi-nins from Konoha did not retire to become go-go dancers in the Vegetable country, that person was most likely dead.

Wordlessly, Iruka went over the hand seals for the basic healing spell he used in the Academy to treat cuts and bruises. "With your chakra sealed away, your Sharingan is inactive, isn't it?" he asked, putting down the foot carefully.

"Yes," said Kakashi as he slipped off his other sandal as well.

"You were spying on the ninja in the …the…" Iruka wondered if it was a bar, a gambling den or something else altogether. "…without your Sharingan."

"I was listening in on the conversations," Kaakshi said slowly. "I also met with a few other Konoha undercover operatives, and we swapped information. Plus," he added casually. "….I'm a genius. I don't need the Sharingan to memorize."

"Oh," said Iruka, feeling like a fool.

"Maybe you should get off your knees, sensei," Kaakshi said his voice strangled, low and teasing. "You're giving me ideas."

Iruka scrambled to his feet, blushing furiously.

"Interesting," Kakashi said as if observing a new specimen. "I expected you to be angry at me after our last conversation…"

"I should be," Iruka agreed, looking at Kakashi. He shrugged and looked away. "I was….I was going to …" Rip your head off and feed it to Orochimaru "…but when I saw you today, you looked so tired, I didn't think you co…"

"It was fun," Kakashi said slowly. "You…the mission Naruto assigned me. On most missions, people give us free food and don't expect payment in return. It's called common courtsey … You, sensei…" Kakashi's leer was clearly visible since his face was uncovered. "…you offered something even better than food…"

"Why are you doing this?" Iruka asked, feeling something churn in his middle – something like humiliation, anger and disgust – but also curiosity. "Why are you behaving this way?"

"Because you think you're in love with me," Kakashi spat out. "Face it, sensei, I knew it the moment you came knocking on my door and telling me you didn't know I was watching over you at Naruto's request. Before, I thought it was rather charming you were acting so naïve, but then I realized – you weren't acting, you are naïve."

"How dare you," Iruka could feel genuine anger seep out. "How dare you say something like that when you know nothing about me?"

"You know nothing about me, sensei," Kakashi said calmly. "You say your feelings are genuine, but whom are they for?"

"What do you mean?" Iruka asked, confused.

"Do you even know me?" Kakashi asked. "You're just like the rest of them – you want a piece of the Copy-nin – the famous Sharingan Kakashi."

"You're certainly full of yourself," Iruka snapped back. "There are two of you already, so you don't need to create clones. You and your ego should be enough to take out an entire platoon."

"What I'm telling you is," Kakashi said getting to his feet carefully. "You can't have feelings for a person you don't know. You saw my face at the hospital and decided you liked me. That's shallower than Sakura moaning over Sasuke. It's like being in love with a super star on TV."

"Am I?" Iruka shot back. "Tell me, Kakashi," he used the name for emphasis. "I might not know everything about you, but I sure as hell know that you're a jerk."

"Well," said Kakashi looking away. "That's a start."

Iruka frowned as Kakashi said it. He was going to tell Kakashi that he knew him. He knew what Naruto had told him – Kakashi was always late, he read porn in public, his summon was …Really, how dare Kakashi imply he was shallow. "Fuck you, Hatake," Iruka said looking away.

"Would you like to?" Kakashi asked. "You really don't know, do you, if I prefer to top or to bottom."

Then Iruka came to understand that what he knew was also what everyone else in the village knew. It was the sort of thing Kakashi maintained in his everyday life as a shield. He did not know what Kakashi's favorite color was or what he liked to eat. He did not know who Kakashi's favorite person in the world was or what he did in his spare time. A small voice in the back of Iruka's head pointed out that Kakashi didn't know anything about him, either, but he realized he was the one who was supposed to like Kakashi, not the other way around.

Defeated, he stepped back. "Give me the information," Iruka said dully. "I'll take it back with me."

"Leave tomorrow at daybreak," Kakashi said, looking out the window, where rain was falling heavily. "The security is lax then, and the rain now also acts in their favor. Wait for it to stop or at least let up." He walked over pulled up a loose floor board and brought out a scroll, which he handed over to Iruka. "Read it first-- should it get destroyed, you'll be able to at least remember some of the things in it."

Iruka nodded, took out the report and sat on the edge of the futon to read it. He read it in silence as Kakashi paced the room, the wind from the window making the flame of the lamp dance. He finished reading, rolled it up and put it in one of the watertight containers in his backpack. Iruka looked up at Kakashi slowly and spoke.

"I do know you," he said carefully. "I know you hate getting dirty … you must be the cleanest ninja in Konoha. You took a shower before coming here – cold water from a streetside tap, because you hate the dirt, but if you have to, you will get dirty. I also know you are one of the kindest people around. You might kill and pretend to be cold but you really aren't. Your mission here is already complete, but you're going to stay here because you want to help those poor dogs. You might pretend you follow the rules and that the mission is the most important thing, but you know – you do have a heart."

Kakashi was silent for a bit then looked away.

"When are you going to make your attack?" Iruka asked silently. "At daybreak…what you said for me probably applies for you as well," he answered his own question. "Let me come with you."

"No!"

"You don't have any chakra, you can't use any jutsu, and I don't think you should be unsealed without medi-nin present unless we are in a really tight spot," Iruka said with a small smile. "You have no choice in this."

Kakashi looked at him steadily with mismatching eyes, but did not word a protest.

A/n- the night is not yet over. They're in a room, one bed and it's night. Do the math ppl. You guessed it; they're going to kill each other.

Actually, do you want a NC-17 scene? I know I rated this fic as high as possible with that eventuality in mind. But fanfiction net in particular does not encourage this. So, I'll take a vote.

I have to thank everyone for commenting on my fic. It makes it so much fun for me to write it. While I do not answer comments, I do appreciate them. If you have specific questions about the fic or plot holes or things you want to point out, ask and I will answer.


	14. Chapter 14

Part 14

Part 14

A/N- I've added a long author's note to the end of this chapter. If you want, you can read it. If not, you are free to skip over it.

Kakashi had placed his bed so it was not in a direct line with the front door (to avoid being surprised by anyone bursting through the door) and underneath one of the room's windows (for a quick getaway in case of someone bursting through the door). Both the open windows revealed a rainwater curtain similar to the underside of a waterfall. At least it was evident where the entire country got its name from, Iruka mused as he tried to focus on the subject at hand.

It was standard procedure for ninjas in the field to patch each other up and share clothes, food and equipment. The thought did not help Iruka, though he kept on repeating it to himself as he sat cross-legged on Kakashi's bed, dressed in one of the Copy-nin's spare drawstring pants. Long, slender fingers probed his back, making his toes curl at the sensation, though in reality the way his cuts stung was far from pleasant.

"What else did they use?" Kakashi asked, as he dabbed some more his ointment on one of Iruka's scratches. He had not even noticed he had been hurt during the whole swim-across-the-torrent episode. Though they were mostly superficial scratches, Iruka knew better than to leave them untreated, especially during a mission. But having someone like Kakashi treat him while trying to focus on that day's events was trying.

"The water jutsu," Iruka replied trying to concentrate hard. "It was as if they'd directed an entire body of water onto us." He tried to find the words to describe the sheer amount of water that had been dropped on them and realized he could not put it into words. Afraid that he would come out sounding like Naruto exaggerating some exploit, Iruka decided to keep quiet about it.

"Did they use the water from the river or create water from their own chakra?" Kakashi asked as he worked on a rather sensitive spot near the lower ribs.

"It was river water," Iruka replied, remembering the flotsam in the water. "Unless they were into creating floating logs and weeds as well."

"How did they direct it?" Kakashi asked. "A funnel technique or something similar to the ground move you described. A wave in the terrain formation could trigger a…"

Well, they did say the Copy-nin was a genius. "I don't know," Iruka replied apologetically. "I wasn't paying attention to that …" _when there was a huge wall of water about to crush me and before that, let's not forget an entire squadron of enemy nin out for our blood_ "…I was a little distracted at the moment."

"Hn," said Kakashi as he moved away, leaving Iruka feeling alone, though the Copy-nin had only moved to the corner of the room to return his ointment to its usual place.

Iruka was unsure if the grunt had meant Kakashi was done with interrogating him about the techniques they had been subjected to or just displeased that Iruka was unable to provide the finer details of the jutsu used on them. He looked over his shoulder at Kakashi as the Copy-nin moved around, finally closing the window that had been left open despite the rain. It was too late, Iruka reflected, the water falling on the adjacent roof had sprayed the floor with a fine coating, and the temperature of the room seemed to have plunged to below zero.

Iruka slid off the bed, shivering as his bare feet came into contact with the damp floor. He reached for his spare vest, which was the only article of clothing that seemed to have survived the water attack and slipped it over his head, grimacing a little, since it was also damp. He had wrung it out and shaken it a bit, but the weather in the Waterfall country did not encourage quick drying. He looked at the older ninja and waited for him to say something about the mission of the next day.

"Yes," said Kakashi when he realized Iruka was waiting for something.

"About tomorrow," Iruka prodded slowly.

"Your clothes will be washed and dried by then," Kakashi told him brusquely. "You can go and collect them in the morning from the washhouse."

Iruka decided hitting Kakashi on the head was going to be a waste of time. "I meant about the dogs," Iruka said a little pointedly. "You _do_ have a plan, don't you?"

"I do," Kakashi said looking away. "You can come if you want to, or you can go back with the scroll – your part in this mission is over."

"I can help you," Iruka replied as he scowled at the cold tone. "I can still be of some use."

"How, sensei?" Kakashi's voice was laced with sarcasm. "The strongest jutsu you can use is the Replacement technique. Are you going to replace the dogs with logs?"

"I can fight," Iruka answered resolutely. "I'm not totally useless."

"You're entitled to your own opinion," Kakashi replied, looking away.

"Why in the world are you behaving like this?' Iruka wondered aloud. When he'd returned from the washroom located on the floor below, Kakashi had behaved in a civilized manner. He'd offered Iruka a pair of spare sweats, patched up Iruka's injuries and had his clothes sent to the washhouse down the road. Iruka had assumed that the worst was over between them and that they could discuss the next step of the mission as adults. Now, Kakashi seemed to be behaving irrationally as usual, and Iruka could see why, despite being one of the top ninjas of Konoha, Kakashi did not have that many close friends.

"Because you are not the person I asked for when I specified the mission personnel," Kakashi told Iruka with a growl. "Don't you get it, you're next to useless. I don't want to take some weak team member with me since I'll have to protect him in the middle of everything else. And with my chakra sealed…"

"I have a scroll which Shizune gave – it describes how to do an unsealing," Iruka said tentatively. "Since she had it, I assumed that a medi-nin needed to do the unsealing, but I can still do it …I think." He decided he could _show_ Kakashi just how much protection he needed. Shouting about it was going to make little difference – Iruka decided to rub Kakashi's nose in it later.

"I think not," Kakashi snapped back, making Iruka cringe. "Have you ever unsealed someone before, sensei? Why do you think I requested Neji – next to a medi-nin. a Buyakugan user is the most capable of maintaining a steady chakra flow. What they don't understand, they can see."

"I see," said Iruka, looking down. "But my offer still stands … I can help."

"Well, then," said Kakashi challengingly. "Can tell me what you would hypothetically do?"

"Fine," said Iruka thrusting his chin up, ready to prove his worth. "First, though, how many dogs are we moving?"

"Seven adults," Kakashi replied. "Three pups."

"How mobile are they?" Iruka asked tentatively. "Some of them didn't have four legs."

"Two of them have three legs," Kakashi nodded. "But don't worry, they won't slow anyone down. They can still run faster than an average ninja."

"Will they be all right by tomorrow?" Iruka asked. "Are they fighting today – will they be in worse physical condition by tomorrow?"

"The rain will help," Kakashi replied. "The fights are held in an open-air arena, since most people can't stand the smell in an enclosed space. The rain means there will be no fights today. And they are not as bad as they looked." Kakashi looked around, and Iruka could see a faint blush even in the faint lamplight. "I've been treating their wounds as well as feeding them. They'll move if they need to."

Iruka nearly mentioned that he could see no reason as to why Kakashi should be embarrassed about it, as if he had done something wrong, then decided to put it down to one of those odd things he did not want to discuss. "The layout of the place," Ituka probed instead. "Guards, other traps that we might encounter…"

"I have a rough map of the place," Kakashi finally admitted, seeing that Iruka was serious about it. "Let me get it out for you and ..." slight hesitation, hard to miss "…we can go over it together."

Iruka fought back the triumphant smile in case he was pushing his luck.

…. ….. …. …. ….. ….. ….. ….. ….. …… ….

"…summon my pack," Kakashi said. "Kabuto is said to summon Orochimaru's snake when he is too weak to do it himself."

"Last option, though," Iruka said thoughtfully as he looked at the crude drawing of the layout of the place as he straightened tentatively. His back ached from having stooped over the tiny print, and he had a headache to top off all the physical discomfort. Iruka looked around; it was getting late, and they probably had a couple of hours sleep left it they were to implement the plan at day break.

He was quickly revising his opinion of the Copy-nin, whom he had put down as lazy but talented. Kakashi, it seemed, had not survived as an elite jounin for so long on luck alone. He went into details when planning for a mission. If there were elements he could not anticipate, like the weather, he pushed them aside but where it mattered, he was a nit-picker. He was more conscious of details than Iruka was, and he had gone over the plan three times.

"The last option is not that," Kakashi said with a scowl, and Iruka nodded. Ah, yes, they had _that_ to fall back on.

"Still," said Iruka looking outside the open window over the bed. "I don't think we left out anything."

"No, we didn't," agreed Kakashi, going towards the door. Much to Iruka's confusion, he pulled it open and looked out at the landing. "Thank you, sensei."

"Uh," said Iruka said in confusion.

"You should leave," said Kakashi. "We have to start early, so make sure to…"

"Wait a minute," Iruka spluttered. "You're turning me out? I don't have a place to stay, it's raining cats, dogs and grand pianos, and you're kicking me out."

"Well," Kakashi said looking uncomfortable. "You can stay then," he muttered ungraciously and closed the door with a scowl. "You can sleep on the chair and…"

"What!" Iruka looked at the rickety chair he was sitting on and scowled. "I don't think anyone can _sit_ on this for long…"

"I'll sleep on the chair," Kakashi offered. "You can sleep on the bed."

"I assure you I will not molest you in your sleep," Iruka said, wondering what was wrong.

"That's not what I'm worried about," Kakashi replied, blushing.

"If it's bed wetting, I'm used to that, also," Iruka couldn't help needling Kakashi a little. Who knew watching a person blush was so much fun. "I deal with five-year-olds every day."

"No!" Kakashi almost shouted, his face the color of a ripe tomato. "I just don't sleep with anyone," he finally mumbled looking away.

"Never?" Iruka said with a raised eyebrow. "Excuse me if I'm wrong, but I'm not the one with sexual experience here." Seeing Kakashi blush was giving him the upper hand, and he was enjoying it.

"I usually leave or they leave," Kakashi said with a scowl. "There's nothing to it. I don't share my bed with anyone, period."

"It's only for a couple of hours," Iruka said softly, knowing when to step down. "I just want to sleep with you." Iruka felt his face grow warm as he realized what he had said. "I mean," he amended hastily. "In the same bed and all … not …sleep together or as in…"

Kakashi smirked at Iruka's discomfort, closed the door and locked it, allowing Iruka to relax a little. "We can share the bed, I guess," he said reluctantly, looking at the floor as if thinking of that option. Iruka did not even bother bringing up that option since the floor was damp. Anyone lying on that for a couple of hours would most likely come down with pneumonia.

Wordlessly, Kakashi stripped off his loose sweater and threw it onto the back of the chair, getting ready for bed. He was instantly transformed from skinny in too big clothes to slender with sinewy muscles. Kakashi was easy on the eye, Iruka thought, as he tried to fight a blush – his upper torso was criss-crossed with scars and his pale skin gleamed in the lamp light. He was not packed with bulky muscles like some ninjas were – heck, Kakashi was slimmer than Iruka, but he looked strong and extremely capable. Still, there was something wrong with the whole picture, something that didn't quite match with the previous image of the other man –something that had been bothering Iruka since the moment he saw Kakashi. And then Iruka got it. He snickered.

"Your hair," Iruka said, when Kakashi looked at him inquiringly. "It's combed down so you look shorter. I was trying to figure it out from the moment I saw you, and now I have it. You use your hair to add to your height."

"It's only temporary," Kakashi said, though Iruka could again see the fair skin coloring, "Come to bed, sensei. After all, you were the one who was so eager to sleep with me." He emphasized Iruka's slip of the tongue, making him blush, and Iruka realized that Kakashi was baiting him deliberately.

"_We're quite a pair_," Iruka thought as he took off his still-damp vest and blew out the lamp. "_We're making each other blush and trying to see which one has the upper hand._"

However, as he approached the bed, he could feel his heart beating wildly. The faint light from the window seemed to make Kakashi look surreal as he lay there on the bed, on top of the covers. If Iruka hadn't known better, he'd have said that Kakashi was posing – for him.

The Copy-nin lay on his back, both eyes half closed, his head tilted back slightly. His breathing was slow and controlled, but he was obviously not asleep. The cold in the room had turned his nipples into small nubs, surprisingly brown against the pale backdrop. Iruka gulped as he took another step closer, almost as if he was being drawn against his wish. The loose drawstring pants Kakashi had been wearing had slid low – the curve of his hip and the indent of his hip bone was visible. While Kakashi was virtually hairless on his chest, apart from a few light-colored hairs, there was a faint line of white-silver hair leading down from his navel, disappearing into the waistband, a sight which Iruka found fascinating.

Much to his embarrassment, Iruka's body decided to react to the visual stimulation, making him hesitant to get into the same bed as his temptation.

"Like what you see, sensei?" Kakashi spoke quietly, and Iruka realized that the jounin's eyes were partially open now and studying his reaction.

Iruka flushed crimson and thought of jumping out the window but something stopped him. If Kakashi thought he was going to scare Iruka by teasing him, he had another thing coming. "Very much," Iruka forced out through his constricted throat.

Kakashi seemed to freeze a little, compute Iruka's behavior and then relax. "You might want to do something about that, then," he suggested, his voice low and suggestive as he leered at Iruka from his position.

Iruka remembered all the things he had read in his collection of Icha Icha, none of which was very helpful in the situation. Kakashi might be trying to provoke him, but it did not mean the Copy-nin was going to lie there, should Iruka jump on top of him and pull down his trousers. There was a big difference between opportunity and stupidity.

He was reluctant to get into the bed, wondering why he had been so determined about it in the first place. He was tired, and he could use some shut-eye, but he knew it was impossible for him to sleep in the same bed with Kakashi. If the annoying man had not made such a fuss about _**not**_ letting Iruka sleep in the same bed, he might not have pushed the issue. Heck, even the rickety chair with its mobile legs was starting to look inviting.

Iruka lay down carefully, thought of the best possible way to sleep, and turned on his side with his back to Kakashi. He did not want to _really_ turn his back to Kakashi, but he didn't want to sleep facing his temptation either. Not that he was going to get any sleep, not with an erection threatening to burst out of his loose pants. He tried to close his eyes and go through the motions of falling asleep when…

"You're starting to disappoint me, sensei." The voice was silk-smooth and all too close.

Iruka rolled over and almost bumped nose to nose with Kakashi, who had shifted closer to him – not that it was a big futon or anything, but neither of them were built like Akimichi, so there should have been more space between. Iruka scooted back to the edge – anymore and he would fall over, so he lay still waiting for Kakashi to make a move.

Up close, Kakashi's face was fascinating; a study of minute scars overshadowed by one rather obvious gash over his left eye. He was smiling slightly, and Iruka had to fight the urge to lean forward and capture those lips in his. Though physically only a few centimeters separated them, Iruka knew it was a chasm as wide as the Valley of the Kings. Nothing was ever going to develop between him and the silver-haired ninja, he told himself. It had been a mistake on his part, nothing else. If he were to lean forward and kiss his nemesis, he would most likely end up with a foot in his stomach or spend the rest of the night getting acquainted with the floorboards.

Iruka tried to lean back a little. "What do you want me to do?" he asked, sounding breathless.

"Haven't you seen those posters," Kakashi asked, his voice teasing. "Opportunity – it's probably your only chance.1"

"So do you want me to…umph…" Iruka started, then found his lips captured in a searing kiss. He gasped as Kakashi kissed him boldly, his tongue forcing its way into Iruka as he tried to get his bearings. Hands grabbed him and pulled him closer so their chests came into contact, and Iruka gasped at the sensation skin-to-skin friction produced. His nipples rubbed against Kakashi's skin, making him moan in eagerness and push forward, searching for more contact. Kakashi took hold of him by the armpits and rolled them both over so Iruka was lying on top of the Copy-nin, his legs between Kakashi's.

They broke the kiss, gasping for air, and as Iruka looked at Kakashi in confusion, he smirked. "Well, get to it, sensei," he said. "You came to bed with me to fuck me, so get to it."

Iruka flushed angrily as if slapped. "If that is what you think of me, then I suggest you…" _get to know me better_…even as Iruka paused, he knew Kakashi had no interest in getting to know him better, so he took a deep breath and continued "…I'd never sink that low," he hissed and tried to roll over.

Kakashi gripped him tighter. "I didn't mean to offend you, sensei," he whispered into Iruka's ear, making him shiver as hot breath tickled his sensitive ear lobe. "But admit it, you want this." A tilt of his hips, a rub of his groin against Iruka's made the sensei painfully aware of just how aroused Kakashi was. His head snapped back as his penis rubbed against the soft clothe. "Aren't you tempted," Kakashi asked slowly. "I'll just lift my legs and you can slip off my sweats and slide into me…" He rotated his hips, holding Iruka firmly against him and Iruka moaned, his hips thrusting down involuntarily. "Just imagine you fucking me hard on this bed…" Kakashi hissed in his ear. "…you can spread my legs and use your binding technique to fix me to this bed as surely as a…"

"I don't want to …" Iruka said with difficultly. _Oh, he wanted to, but he knew he shouldn't_. The image Kakashi had created in his mind was so hard to resist – especially since he could feel their erections against each other despite the two layers of cloth separating them. He also knew that Kakashi did not have any chakra of his own, leaving him vulnerable to Iruka's trap-technique.

"I want you to," Kakashi replied as he slid a hand in through Iruka's waistband, ghosting over his bare skin to cup his butt. "Always did."

Iruka froze at the admission, but when he looked up to ask for clarification, Kakashi pulled him down for another brain-sucking kiss which left him barely coherent. Before he could put together a lucid sentence, Kakashi had pushed down his sweats leaving him exposed to the cold air – totally naked.

Iruka wondered if he should try to have a proper conversation before venturing into uncharted territory and then gave himself a mental shrug. At the rate things were progressing, conversation was the last thing they needed – if there was anything to talk about, they would later -- though he had an idea there might not be. He knew better than to expect a lifetime commitment – a one-night stand with Kakashi seemed to be the best he could do, so he decided to grab the opportunity presented. He could deal with the emotional backlash later on. Right then, his entire body was far too turned on, and all he wanted to do was bury himself in the warm, inviting… not to forget willing, body underneath him.

Taking a deep breath to center himself, Iruka reached for Kakashi's sweats and pushed them down. The Copy-nin obliged, lifting his hips to help Iruka and even kicked the offending material off the bed. "Not wanting to sound cautious or anything," Kakashi drawled lazily. "You do know what to do, don't you?"

"Me…or you," Iruka gasped out feeling stunned.

"You do me," Kakashi said. "That is – if you know what goes in where."

"YES!" Iruka practically shouted. "I do know the theory of it even if I haven't…"

"…done any practical applications," Kakashi said with a short laugh. "How very school teacher like."

Having had enough of Kakashi's teasing, Iruka decided to test a method of keeping him quiet. He began to tweak and tease first one, then the other of Kakashi's tiny nipples. Bending his head, he took one in his mouth and began to suckle and nibble lightly—moaning slightly at the delicious taste of the skin. Kakashi smelled clean and male, and he tasted even better. "Don't move," he said as he decided on his next move.

Iruka sat up straddling Kakashi, his legs on either side of the slender body. He slid his hand lower, exploring the perfect body, tracing the scars and the small indent cause by the navel. He slid lower, leaning down to dip his tongue into the navel and then further down.

Kakashi's erection was weeping openly, standing up, begging for attention. But Iruka ignored it completely to move on until he reached Kakashi's knee. He had to slide off the bed so he could kiss the back of the knee and then he nipped at the smooth skin, eliciting a moan from the jounin. From his position he could see Kakashi's ass hole between his legs and his cock gave an excited twitch as he thought of being buried to the hilt. Making a note to get a subscription for Icha Icha – who knew those books were so informative – Iruka started to work up Kakashi's inner thigh, licking and nipping slowly. He finally reached his destination, the junction where the inner thigh met the groin – nipping there caused Kakashi to squirm and moan loudly. Then he made his way back onto the bed so he was settled in between the Copy-nin's legs.

It was his first time giving anyone a blow job, but Iruka realized he really wanted to try out everything he had read. Well, almost everything. He knew better than to expect to be able to deep throat or do anything spectacular, so he slowly moved his hands over the jounin's erection before moving closer and running his tongue along the underside, evoking a gasp from the owner. Then he took it into his mouth, carefully swirling his tongue around the head.

He almost pulled back sharply at the first taste -- it was strong, salty and yet a little bitter-sweet. He was about to stop, but then he heard a loud groan of pleasure and so began to suck in earnest, moving his head up and down in a slow rhythm. He cupped Kakashi's testicles and tried to work his tongue around the warm, pulsing rod. He was beginning to get more comfortable, though his jaw was aching just a bit, and he found it hard not to gag. Fortunately, the Copy-nin seemed to like everything he did, so he could stop sucking periodically to lick along the sides and kiss the tip again and again. He was sure it was fun – but he did not think he was ready for Kakashi to come in his mouth.

He was about to draw back when a hand in his hair – pulled him up. "I don't…think you're ready to eat me, sensei," Kakashi said a little hoarsely and Iruka flushed. Had his awkwardness being that obvious? "I'm too close," Kakashi added, pulling Iruka forward. Then he spread his legs and lifted them so his knees were resting on his chest. "You'll find some vegetable oil I use for the lamp on the windowsill."

Iruka groped blindly, finding the lubricant. He flicked open the lid and spilled half of it on his hand. His hand was soaked with oil, so there was no shortage of it as he inserted a finger inside Kakashi. By the time he had inserted the second one, his hand was trembling slightly with excitement, and he was glad of the semi-darkness inside the room.

"Now," Kakashi grated as Iruka moved to insert another finger. "I'm not so new to this that I need to be treated like a wallflower."

"Fine," said Iruka, really not wanting to argue as he was close to the edge. He pulled out his fingers, coated his erection with oil, gripping the base of his penis to stop the rising tide and pushed inside carefully. He kept on pushing steadily until he was all the way inside, reeling from sensory overload. Not only was Kakashi hot, he was also very, very tight, and he engulfed Iruka completely. It was like being held in a warm, velvet glove, made especially for him. "Ka…kashi," he breathed unsteadily as he drew back a little

"Wait," Kakashi forced out. "It's been a while."

"Am I hurting you?"

"Just…a ….second," Kakashi breathed, his eyes closed tightly. Then he nodded a little. "You can…move."

Iruka wanted to second guess, to wait it out a little more, but he was not sure if he could. Instead, he started to move slowly as he moved a lubricated hand to the long slender penis in front of him and began to stroke. As Kakashi's waning erection started to harden again, he adjusted his angle a little, trying to remember what he had read. Really, reading about and doing it were two totally different things.

He was rewarded when the Copy-nin gasped, pushing down on Iruka as his penis found the sensitive spot. "Harder," Kakashi gasped, and Iruka was more than happy to oblige. Iruka thought only of bringing his partner pleasure now, his own orgasm ready to crash over him the second he allowed it. The Copy-nin's erection was hot and hard and leaking and almost there. Almost there. Almost --

"Iruka!" Kakashi screamed, coming inside Iruka's hand and clenching his ass around the urgent cock inside it and dragging Iruka with him over the edge. He felt as though he were pouring out more than he could spend, more than he could spare, into Kakashi's body, and everything got dim and fuzzy for a long, long moment. When he became fully aware again, he found he and Kakashi were wrapped in each other's arms, their slick skin sliding against the other with each shivering gasp.

They lay there gasping until Iruka slowly extracted himself and rolled over until he was lying next to Kakashi instead of on top. The first thing he want to do was kiss Kakashi and pull him closer, but he held himself in check. Iruka had no idea as to how Kakashi would react – for all he knew, Kakashi might kick him out. He lay still, wondering if he should do something – reach over to Kakashi, pull him closer – wait for him to fall asleep.

'_At least I'll have no trouble falling asleep after that_,' Iruka thought wryly.

But he was wrong. He did not get much sleep for the remainder of the night.

Iruka had been brought up as an only child. Though he had had loving parents, he had never had siblings, so he had never shared a bed with anyone else. Kakashi apparently had – shared his bed that is, not have siblings. (At least there were no other Hatake off-springs in the village.) And Kakashi was a cuddler.

Iruka wondered whom Kakashi had shared his bed with. It could not have been with his parents – no one in their right minds would sleep like _that_ with their parents. And Kakashi did not push against Iruka as if he was a child – he did it instinctively as if with an adult. An adult he had been very intimae with – a lover.

Iruka looked at the rain-blurred window and sighed, wondering who had been Kakashi's lover and what had happened to him. He did not think it was woman; it had to be a man, he knew instinctively. Someone who had held Kakashi at night the same way he had done, someone who had loved Kakashi, whom Kakashi had most probably loved very much. Iruka did not think it was possible to love someone so much then forget about it. He knew he would never be able to totally get over Kakashi.

As he leaned forward and kissed Kakashi's forehead, he hoped that one day Kakashi might find a place in his heart for Iruka, no matter how small. Disturbed by the kiss, Kakashi stirred, mumbled something, and buried his face in Iruka's neck. Iruka froze – it was just a name, he told himself. It could have even been some other name, something similar. He was sure if he had been listening closely, he would have heard some other name, not the one he thought he heard. But just the same, he was grateful for the rain, which blocked most of the sound.

When he woke up, startled by the hand on his shoulder, Iruka realized he had fallen asleep briefly, though it felt as if he had not slept at all. In fact, he felt as if he had been spat out of Gaara's sand coffin after an overnight stay. Groaning, he sat up and looked at the person who had woken him up – Kakashi, fully dressed in his ragged outfit, ready to face the day. "It's almost time," Kakashi told him briefly. "Feel up to it?"

"You should have woken me up earlier," Iruka grumbled as he rolled off the bed and stood up, grimacing as his feet came to contact with the wet floor. He picked up his discarded clothes and pulled up the sweats, his mind on the mission. There was no time for him to act like a blushing idiot in the morning, no matter what had happened the previous night. He was a Konoha ninja first and foremost, and he had a mission to complete.

"You needed the rest," Kakashi said, counting some coins from a pile.

"What are you doing?" Iruka asked, as he washed off the dried come from his stomach. He wanted to say something, but he was already switching to mission mode and unnecessary thoughts would have wait.

"Payment for the Citadel," Kakashi explained. "I left with you early before my shift ended to earn a little money on the side, so I have to pay a cut off it to the management. That's club policy."

Iruka paused, a thought entering his mind. "You seem familiar with club policy…"

"No," Kakashi did not even let him finish. "I haven't done it with anyone else before."

"Oh," said Iruka, pulling on his now somewhat dry vest. He searched desperately for something to say as Kakashi fell into his alternate persona. He let his shoulder droop, knees bend slightly, both eyes half closed. He suddenly seemed weak and defenseless "That's some disguise, if I wasn't for the eye I don't think I'd have recognized you."

"You think so?" Kakashi asked as he opened the door, letting in a blast of cold. "Well then, sensei, you should see me in a dress."

1 motivational posters – my latest craze.

There, the Nc-17 part. Well, it's not romantic per say and those two aren't exactly together. Don't mistake the sex they had for a commitment. (just a warning.)

DojomistressAmbyChan- I didn't know the Dojo scene was NC-17. Oops, then I'm over it.

Aoh- yes, I realize this is going to play hell with the mission. Please, continue to read though. I do try to make it sound realistic without being over idiotic. The next chapter should clear out a few points.

And yes, about the trap Iruka uses. When I meant he uses it on his students, I also assumed he uses his own chakra which is easier to reabsorb and break down. When Kakashi uses his chakra on Iruka, Iruka had to breakdown someone else's chakra which is something he unfamiliar with.


	15. Chapter 15

Part 15

Part 15

A/N-_I used Italics for flashbacks since I hate writing flashback scenes with FLASHBACK written allover it --and all those page breaks. The change from past to present should be smooth but if it isn't let me know._

Thoughts are also in italics but the difference should be clear. No one thinks in flashbacks. :)

The heavy downpour of the previous night seemed to have died down to a steady drizzle that was more annoying than actual rain. Iruka pulled the sweater he had borrowed from Kakashi closer and tried not to grimace as his feet squelched in the mud. The city outskirts were not exactly prosperous at the best of times, but in the rain, with all the garbage turned into soggy, smelling mountains, they were wretched.

Iruka kept pace with Kakashi, glad the weather kept nearly everyone who had a roof over their heads off the streets. He felt in his pockets for his weapons and went over the steps in his mind. It was going to be a close call, he decided. If it had been Gai who had arrived to take back Kakashi, it would have been a better combination. Gai had more power, and right then, between the two of them, there was hardly enough chakra to create a double henge. Still, Iruka shrugged philosophically, he was the one here, not Gai, and he was more capable than the spandex-clad jounin when it came to stealth.

As they approached the Citadel main door, Iruka noted that the night guard had not yet left the post. From what Kakashi had told him, the gambling den usually closed in the early morning, and almost everyone went home. There were a few who stayed there twenty-four hours; the manager, his mistress, a few guards and some addicts who would rather die than leave their smoking pots behind. After closing time, a few attendants stayed behind to clean up the place, put out the trash, reset the gambling tables to their original positions and make ready for the next day. Then they would all leave to catch a few hours of sleep. And after a couple of hours, the morning crew would arrive--the cooks, the food and beverage deliverymen – all to get ready for the afternoon, when the Citadel would again open its doors the public. By three o' clock, the place would be packed and in full swing, the same as the previous night.

If the outside guards were still stationed, it meant there were "guests" inside. That meant the cleaning crew would also be inside. Which meant they would leave late, cutting down the time they had between the night crew leaving and the morning crew arriving. Even if they managed to get away with the dogs before the morning crew arrived, it would still cut down on the time before someone would notice the dogs were missing, again, encroaching on the time they had to get away.

They crouched behind a stack of boxes and observed the doorway while waiting for the cleaning crew to leave. Iruka could feel the body heat of Kakashi as he leaned over Iruka's shoulder to observe the doorway and had to fight back the urge to press his back against the warm chest.

"This always happens when it rains," Kakashi observed in a low voice. "Everyone has one last drink and waits until the rain lets up. That means the manager is still awake. We'll have to wait a little until the club settles down for the night."

"We'll have to go with plan B," Iruka said, remembering the plan they had come up with the previous night.

"Hn," said Kakashi looking away.

"_Will we have to wait long?" Iruka had asked. "Wouldn't it be easier if we could use the side exit I used to leave yesterday?"_

"_I've told you before, Iruka-sensei…" Kakashi had said in mock exaggeration._

Iruka smiled to himself at the memory and decided not to be annoyed that Kakashi had only called him by his name at the moment of climax. At all other times he was simply referred to as Iruka-sensei, which was very formal …and totally inappropriate when considering that Iruka had come in his ass the previous night.

"…_that the door open inwards and is warded against intruders," Iruka had said in an equally polite voice. "But when I left the wards were not yet up."_

"_That was because there were clients inside…" Kakashi's voice had trailed away when he had realized what Iruka was getting at. The wards would still be inactive, since the club had yet to shut down for the day. He had seemed to consider it for a moment and shaken his head. "It wouldn't work, we'll have to walk past the main door even if we exit from a side entrance, and leading those dogs past the guards will alert them."_

"_We can take out the guards," Iruka had said with a frown._

"_You and whose army?" Kakashi had said snidely. "There are five guards at closing time to make sure none of the clients departs without paying. Since some clients are jounin level, it is prudent to keep a large number of ninja to enforce such rules."_

"_We don't need to overpower then," Iruka had said, looking around the room for inspiration, ignoring Kakashi's taunt. It was rather easy, since he dealt with kids all the time, and most of their taunts were more advanced than the childish ones Kakashi used. "We need to move them."_

"_Oh!" Thoughtful pause. "Not much use if we move them within the neighborhood. They'd still come back, and…"_

"_Not like that," Iruka had said thoughtfully as he remembered his prankster days. "We don't move them away, we move them __**in**__."_

"_Into what?" Kakashi had asked looking around, "I can't think of any enclosed places where we can trap them, unless…"_

"_Yes," Iruka had agreed since the conclusion was obvious. "The club. I remember I went through at least two doors to enter the main gaming room, and I can weld a door shut quite easily."_

"_There's no way they'll leave their posts and head into the club," Kakashi had said with a frown._

"_That's my problem," Iruka had replied with a muted grin. In the semi-darkness he did not think Kakashi could have seen his expression, but he did not care. He was actually having fun. "We stick to the plan, as in you get the dogs out while the guards are away. I'll…" he had drifted off and glared at Kakashi as another thought emerged. "You should have thought of that before, being the big, bad jounin you are, unless you already did think of it but did not want to implement that. If I'd been Gai, you wouldn't have even hesitated."_

_No reply had been given, but then again, none was needed. The plan had been cemented._

"Get me in there," Iruka told Kakashi, knowing that too much time spent crouched with the jounin breathing on his neck would have dire consequences. The night before had been memorable, but Iruka was no fool – he did not think there would be any repeat performance anytime soon. Thinking too much on that topic would either get him killed, or worse, drive him mad. 1

"We have to wait a little more," Kakashi said after a small pause. He shifted, a little as if getting comfortable, then shifted back so he was no longer pressed against Iruka's back.

Iruka rolled his eyes, though he knew Kakashi couldn't see his expression. It was pathetic – they were both hiding in the same place (and only ninjas in low budget civilian-made films did that) pretending the night before had never happened. He leaned back a little until they were roughly in the same positions they had been before Kakashi had shifted, then looked over his shoulder at the older ninja.

Kakashi scowled and moved back again as if the contact was repulsive.

Iruka deliberately shifted back. Kakashi was being plain mean. "You know," he said casually. "For a guy who had sex with me, cuddled me in his sleep and called me by another guy's name, you sure have a way of pretending it didn't happen."

There, he'd said it. While they were carrying out stealth maneuvers behind a dumpster. And Iruka had just promised himself he was not going to bring it up, ever. And he just did. Had. Whatever.

Iruka could feel Kakashi freezing next to him. There was a long silence in which Iruka tensed, wondering if a garrote would close up his airway. When Kakashi spoke, his voice was low and intense – almost a completely different person.

"Now you know why I don't share my bed with anyone," he said finally.

"Because you cuddle, or because you talk in your sleep?" Iruka was only being flippant to cover his curiosity.

"I only talk in my sleep when I feel safe with someone." the words were practically forced out.

Iruka felt a sudden flutter of warmth in his chest that had nothing to do with the rain falling on them. He turned around completely and looked at Kakashi then smiled slightly. "Measly chuunin is not considered a threat, huh," he said lightly, not wanting to get _that_ thrown at his face.

Kakashi looked away, avoiding eye contact, though Iruka could see the faint flush in the first light of the day. He looked down, then at Iruka and finally sighed as if accepting the situation. "That name I said…" Kakashi said hesitantly. "It's not what you think…"

"That you were lovers," Iruka said with a grimace. "But you were, weren't you?"

"He's dead, so there's no need to bring it up," Kakashi replied. "It was nothing. He was married and a very important man so it could never have been. No matter how non-conservative our village was, they wouldn't have accepted that."

"Not to mention the age gap," Iruka said with a scowl. He was a school teacher, and even the thought of looking at any of his students that way was enough to turn his stomach. "You were a child…"

"I was a chuunin at six," Kakashi snapped before Iruka could complete the sentence. "That gave me the right to kill – I don't see why anyone should care about who I fuck."

Iruka silently looked away, unable to answer that.

"It was nothing," Kakashi continued harshly. "A passing fancy, something which wouldn't have lasted even if he had lived…"

"But you loved him, didn't you?" Iruka said softly.

Kakashi got up abruptly, almost tipping Iruka onto his butt, making him think for a second that he had gone too far. But as he scrambled to his feet, he realized it was because the guards were looking slightly relaxed, and the Citadel door was slightly open.

Iruka had to hurry after Kakashi to keep up with him as they strode towards the door. The guards shifted slightly to the middle, reaching for their weapons when they saw the two, but seemed to relax when they realized it was Kakashi. Kakashi leaned forward and whispered a few words to a guard, and Iruka watched him palm a few coins.

The guards conferred and then nodded, looking bored as one of them pushed open the door and gestured them in. As Iruka walked past, one of the guards pinched his butt, making him jump –and also wonder what exactly Kakashi must have told them about Iruka.

The lower room was as before, only the large man in charge of weapons was sitting on a stool sharpening an exotic double-bladed sword, looking content and seeming out of place. Iruka found it hard to take his eyes off the blade, even as he almost walked into the doorpost. He had not expected such an unusual weapon, but then again, he was there to cause a distraction, not to have an actual fight. The man looked at Iruka as if considering asking him for his weapons then frowned when Kakashi said, "He's with me."

"Rules," the man grated and Iruka took off his weapons pouch and his backpack, not wanting to make a fuss. He had memorized the unsealing scroll but it annoyed him that he was about to lose all his weapons unless he acted carefully. Especially since he was going to be leaving in a hurry.

"We have to do this now," Kakashi hissed in Iruka's ear.

Iruka nodded as they entered the main room and looked around at the scattering of clients remaining. Most of the clients were either very drunk, high on something or too engrossed in their gambling to actually leave the tables. Iruka did not look as Kakashi started to walk towards the side steps, which he knew led to the dog kennels; from their discussions he knew that Kakashi routinely fed the dogs the first thing in the morning. Having left early the day before, it was perfectly natural for Kakashi to check on the dogs, a quirk even the club owners seemed to have accepted. It was Iruka who did not fit in, since he was a stranger.

Iruka knew that he was the odd one out and should work more on blending in, but with time running out, he did not think he had time to build up a character. He looked at the corner of the room where Kakashi had told him the manager of the Club was and sure enough spotted a short man with a wisp of hair covering his balding head. That meant only the mistress was going to be in the managers' quarters, which was just as well.

He looked around, wiping the sweat off his palms on the back of his pants, and walked briskly towards the men's bathroom. In a room full of ninjas, sauntering or walking slowly was likely to draw more attention than running. He reached the toilet, wrinkling his nose at the smell as he pushed open the door and stepped inside.

He looked around to make sure the entire toilet including the cubicles was empty, stepped over a pool of vomit and walked to the corner cubicle. He went in, closed the door, then cursing Kakashi under his breath, got on the floor and searched for the ventilation grill. Finding it, he unscrewed it from the wall, using his spare kunai, and pulled it loose. Then, after carefully placing it carefully over a puddle of urine, (just because they were ninja didn't mean they could aim while they were drunk,) he crawled through the gap.

It was an old, old trick, but Iruka did not think the Citadel was that concerned about ninja crawling from the male toilets to the female toilets through the ventilation holes. At least it was a short crawl, Iruka reasoned, as he peered in to make sure the room was empty before entered the female toilets.

He blinked, looking around, trying not to think about being in forbidden territory. As a boy, he had wondered what it was like in the girls locker room, and now as an adult he was in one. It was rather unspectacular – it was just a normal toilet.

Only cleaner, Iruka had to admit. It smelled better, and there was even toilet paper. And all the doors closed properly – and no one seemed to have peed or vomited on the floor. It was probably because there were so few women in the Citadel.

Iruka brought to mind the route he had memorized earlier and took the kunai from between his teeth and started to make a small hole in the wall. He peered through it into the faint darkness of the room and nodded. Right place.

He gave the plywood a firm kick, forcing it to buckle and crack. The next time he kicked, it broke outwards, and the shards fell into the room below, followed by Iruka who dropped into the semi-dark room. It was not much of a room, since it was at a lower level than the rest of the place, at a much lower level than the bathroom floor her had leapt from. It must have been created from leftover space when the place had been created. From where Iruka was standing, in the hole created in the wall, it was obvious the room was not at a lower level as much as it was _deeper_ and not very inviting in the dark.

Knowing better than to create a light not matter how tempting, Iruka stepped into the darkness hoping for the best. It was damp, and as Iruka landed on some clay pots full of wine, which broke his fall he observed it was also very cramped. "_At least it is the right place_," Iruka thought as he stood up, wincing. He had reached the Citadel cellar -- or what counted as their cellar, as well as their alcohol storage room -- the hard way.

He looked around swiftly and smiled. It was more of a small back room than anything else with rows and rows of wine pots, bottles of alcohol and other supplies. In fact, Kakashi had been surprised when Iruka had asked about it. Iruka nodded to himself, dropped the henge and set to work. It was so much fun, just like in his school days, only now he actually got to do some damage.

Once it was done, there was no time for Iruka to play half-rate ninja by crawling through confined spaces. He opened the storage room door into an open hallway with a few broken chairs stacked along the wall. There were several doors in the corridor, all closed, as Iruka noted gratefully as he hurried. The door closest to the cellar led to the managers' quarters, and Iruka knew the manager was still on the club floor. Which left the manager's mistress, who was most likely still in bed.

"What are you doing here?"

Or not.

Iruka turned around carefully and almost got a nose bleed. Emerging from the bedroom was a tall, stately woman of indeterminate age, with long, waist-length hair, dark skin and very little clothing. She must have been sleeping and had woken up when Iruka had fallen into the room next to her bedroom.

She wore a small pair of shorts which ended at mid-thigh, above which she wore a loose wrap, leaving her breasts free. As she stepped closer, Iruka had to remind himself to close his mouth, since gaping jaws were not a plus point.. She was taller than Kakashi and walked confidently on bare feet – the way she move screamed ninja – jounin level at least. He could hardly imagine her as the mistress of that short, balding man he had seen on the floor above.

"I…" Iruka fumbled, and the woman attacked. Oh, shit. She must have realized his hesitation as a sign that he did not belong in that area of the Club.

Iruka ducked the swing, moved back and thought about trying to make a run for it but decided against it. If he was to emerge from the back room with the managers' lover hot on his heels he would probably draw more attention to himself than to the actual distraction. He moved back, not wanting to hurt her as her fist came straight towards him. Iruka ducked and saw her fist go through the plywood wall as if it was tissue – and winced.

It was more likely that he was the one who was going to get hurt. There was no time to be a gentleman and ask her to go back to sleep. Armed with only a kunai, there was no way he was going to be able to defeat her. He backed up to the wall, groped for something, and his hand closed on a broken chair. Picking it up, Iruka swung it head on, hitting her hard on the side of her head.

And watched with amazement as she staggered back then regained her balance easily. It was stunning. She was not even bleeding – it was almost insulting. He knew he had hit her very hard.

He dodged another blow, kicked her on the knee and moved back out of reach. With those – those breasts swinging everywhere, he wasn't even sure if he could get close enough to hit her. What if he accidentally touched one of those?

He was thankfully saved from his dilemma when the back room exploded. The explosion shook the ground, cracked the ceiling and threw Iruka back a couple of feet so he hit his head on the wall and passed out for a couple of seconds. When he opened his eyes and got to his feet groggily, the female was lying facedown on the corridor, bleeding a little from her temple. He could see that she was breathing easily so was probably not in any danger. Anyway, his mission had been to cause a distraction, and he had done just that. He had to leave before the guards came by.

He changed back into his female form, gave a full throated scream – and ran out. No matter how capable, females were more believable than males and considered helpless in all situations. He had seen grown men rush to help Tsunade even though they knew she was the Hokage and one of the strongest ninjas around. It was amazing how most never looked past the exterior.

When everyone looked at him, Iruka managed to babble something about someone being trapped in the back and noted with satisfaction as everyone rush to the rescue. He ran into the main gambling room, into the goods room where he managed to sidestep the guard rushing in. Even the huge man in charge of weapons had come to see what the commotion was.

He grabbed his weapons and back pack as he ran up the step, noting that only one guard was left at the top. Even as he ran up, Iruka brought up his kunai and stabbed the man in the thigh and pushed him down the stairs. It was done so quickly the guard was still opening his mouth to speak to Iruka when he hit the third step.

Dropping the henge, Iruka channeled chakra to his finger tips, created his trap seal and used it on the door, sealing it shut from every side. It would take considerable effort for those inside to come out, since the door was solidly built to withstand an attack.

Then he took a breather and properly shouldered his back pack. His part of the mission was done. He had gotten rid of the guards and caused a distraction. Now all Kakashi had to do was lead the dogs out the side door, past the front door where the guards should have been (but were not) and to freedom. He was supposed to take off with the information scroll he almost knew by heart. He could have left it behind and still remembered all of the important contents, but there was the stray chance of him developing amnesia, getting hit by some new jutsu or something similar which usually happened in B grade movies.

Anyway, he was supposed to leave. His part was over.

Iruka stood by the sealed doorway, though, waiting for Kakashi. Maybe the now-blond ninja had left already, though Iruka did not think he took that long to come out after the explosion. And there had been the time gap to allow the guards to go inside, so…

He gave a gasp of relief when he saw Kakashi emerging – carrying a large dog, followed by some more.

"What took you so long?" Iruka asked.

"Why are you still here?" Kakashi asked at the same time.

"I thought you said they could move," Iruka said, ignoring the question.

"I said they were mobile," Kakashi said blandly, though he looked worried. If the dogs didn't move on their own, they had to be carried. It was useless to plan a rescue attempt if they were going to leave behind the rescuee. Which left the option of carrying the ones that couldn't walk.

"How many need to be carried?" Iruka asked wearily, holding out an arm.

Kakashi looked at Iruka without replying, scowling at him, before gesturing to the back. "There's a pup with a limp that'll slow us down. Think you can…"

Wordlessly Iruka picked it up and put it inside his vest. He had seen Kiba do it to Akamaru and he had tried it once before – it had not been a bad fit. Unlike Akamaru, this one was skinny, and smelled liked dried meat and dirt. Perhaps when they started running, the wind would blow away the odor, and he could overlook the smelly lump that was currently trying to settle down somewhere close to his breast bone. The things he did for his jounin.

-- -- -- -- --

Iruka desperately wanted to stop.

The puppy in his vest had become a still, unmoving lump. He wanted to make sure it was breathing; maybe he had accidentally smothered it.

The cuts on Kakashi's feet were bleeding again. The rags he had tied were soaked red, and Iruka knew it must pain him to run barefoot on the thorny ground. Iruka had no idea as to when Kakashi had lost his sandals; maybe he had not been wearing them from the start, since he hadn't been wearing them the previous day at the Club.

The dogs were slowing. Unlike the ninja dogs of the village, they were ill-fed and injured. They kept up the best they could, but Iruka could see the foam on their lips and the way their sides heaved with every step.

It was not a calculated evasive maneuver; it was just a plain dash for the river and the safe border it represented --with a hoard of ninjas behind them. It was short and fast, and none of them was going to make it at this rate. The river offered safety, and those behind them knew it as well.

Iruka knew he should take off, leaving Kakashi; the mission was more important than anything.

Kakashi should have known better than to get side-tracked by the dogs. They were not a part of the mission or their objective. He could see why Kakashi might have preferred Gai – Gai, unlike him, was not in love with Kakashi and would have gone off with the scroll, not stayed behind. Maybe with someone like Gai, Kakashi would have abandoned the idea of rescuing the dogs

Motioning Kakashi to go on, Iruka stopped to place two time-delayed exploding tags, knowing he should have been the one to go. He was the one who was not handicapped and therefore the one with the most chance of getting away. But he was being led by his heart, and his heart told him not to abandon anyone. Not even a single pup.

Iruka started to run, placing exploding tags at random, mostly to slow down the pursuit. If they were ninjas, they would look for a pattern in the tags, and it would slow them down until they realized there was none.

Watching Kakashi run, a dog in his arms, another across his back, Iruka smiled faintly despite the gravity 2 of the situation.

The White Fang of Konoha was a famous legend, more so because he had sacrificed a mission to save his teammates. His son had grown up to be a legend of his own, someone who understood the importance of forfeiting something small for the greater good. But – as Kakashi ran with his rescued dogs, something totally irrelevant that could jeopardize the mission, Iruka understood more about Kakashi.

"_Kakashi_," he thought with fondness. "_What would you do if I told you you're more like your father than you think? You follow your heart whether you know it or not."_

1 Priorities; not everyone is the same – motivational poster anyone.

A/N- the next part is also more action than romance. I tried to fit it all into one chapter but failed. Also, since I have a habit on introducing Naruto characters for guest appearances, I thought I'll briefly fit in three more people. Just for a laugh.


	16. Chapter 16

The dogs smelled water before they did

Part 16

The dogs smelled water before they did. Or at least before Iruka did, since he saw Kakashi lift his nose and sniff the air the same way the dogs were doing. Whatever the case, Iruka was sure he felt a stirring in the lump in his chest as they reached the river bank. He scanned the further shore hopefully for a sign of a green-spandex-clad figure, but there was nothing but a rather large banner waving in the trees on the other side.

Iruka did not need a Sharingan or any other blood limit technique to understand what it said. "Taking Shizune back to village. Don't worry, help is on the way. We have dealt with the ones on this side of the river." It was rounded off with a pair of "!!" The whole thing had Gai written on it from top to bottom. And probably on the back of it as well. Where in the world had the man managed to find that large a piece of green cloth – on second thought, Iruka decided it had probably been an essential part of Gai's equipment – there was no way of getting around the weird things jounin did.

"We swim for it," Iruka told Kakashi, who had probably come to the same conclusion. While the river was calm enough to walk on, with his chakra sealed, there was no way Kakashi could, and Iruka did not want to bring that up. "Can the dogs…"

There was no need to ask, since the dogs had started to wade into the water after Kakashi at some silent command. Iruka fished out the puppy, grateful to see it stir, and placed it on his head the same way Kiba would do with his pup. Unfortunately, this pup was not from the Inzuka stock, and all it did was slide off his head and would have hit the ground if Iruka had not been quick enough to catch it.

He looked at Kakashi, who was motioning the dogs to move ahead of him, even the ones he was carrying. The dogs started to swim one by one, and Iruka thanked God it was not rainy season in the Fire country as well. The volume of the river usually doubled when it rained there, and it would have been impossible for anyone to swim across it. He could not swim with a pup, so he decided to run across the water, carrying it. Iruka reached the shore before the dogs did, placed the pup on high ground, turned around and run as fast as he could to help the next dog that was floundering. He ran back and forth as efficiently as possible, dragging the dogs by the scruff of their necks to shallow water as fast as he could, while next to him, Kakashi also got into the water and started to swim, in an odd paddling sort of move with his head held above the water which made Iruka think of Gai's equally odd swimming techniques.

Iruka reached the shore finally and held out a hand to Kakashi, making a note to start swimming classes for all jounin-level ninjas.

"Kakashi," he started. He was not going to call him Kakashi-sensei, ever. Well, not anytime soon. He could not -- not because he did not respect the jounin, but because he knew him far too well and knew better than to pretend otherwise. "You swim like a…

…the dogs close to the shore waded out of the water and shook themselves…

…Kakashi also shook himself like a…

"…dog," Iruka finished weakly as he blinked at the water. He picked up the shivering pup from the ground and turned around to count heads, the same way he would do at school after each field outing.

"Thank you," Kakashi said, sounding pleased, and Iruka decided it probably wasn't an insult to equate him to a canine.

"They've reached us," Iruka said, his eyes fixed on the far shore.

"We don't have any choice, then," Kakashi said with a wry turn of his mouth. "Final option, Iruka-sensei. Unseal me."

"Without knowing what it might do?" Iruka asked, even as he channeled chakra to his fingertips and concentrated it evenly.

"Do we have an alternative?" Kakashi asked softly.

In reply, Iruka move forward and stuck his fingers in the points where the seal was activated, letting his chakra pulse through. He could feel the chakra that had been locked away break free like a dam breaking. Cool!

With a grunt Kakashi fell to his knees, his chakra pulsing wildly. Iruka gasped even as he felt for his shurikens, concentrating on the dangers ahead. It would be next to impossible to make a run for it in the condition they were in. However, it was also ridiculous to think Iruka even had a chance against – how many? – he counted three ninjas who were out for their blood.

Iruka pulled out his kunai, wishing he could transform it into a boomerang, and looked at Kakashi, who was still on his knees retching dryly. Iruka steeled himself to face his enemies no matter how much he wanted to go and kneel beside Kakashi and rub his back. That would most likely earn him an elbow in the stomach and a kunai in the back. The Copy-nin did not handle compassion or pity very well, and it was stupid to get distracted in the presence of the enemy.

"Ask the dogs to move back," he said tersely instead and was rewarded by the dogs shuffling back, their lips drawn back in snarls. Not wondering exactly how the dogs knew what he was saying, Iruka pulled back, spread his feet and got ready.

"You fool," Kakashi grated with difficulty. "Take the scroll and go."

"And leave you …and the dogs," Iruka said calmly. "I hope that if the circumstances were reversed you would do the same." He did not wait for an answer, instead summoning his skills together for the battle ahead. "If you can get up, I want you to take the dogs and leave," he said, his eyes fixed on the lot who were walking on water towards them. "I'll hold them back as much as I can."

There was no time for replies as Iruka leapt forward to meet the first attacker. He parried the kunai that came towards him, fished out two explosive tags and threw them, attached to the shurikens. He waited until the enemy was out of the water, then attacked in earnest, parrying their assaults with his own, hoping he was buying time for the rest to get away. It was not much of a fight: Iruka was outnumbered, and his only hope was to hold on as long as possible.

It would have been next to impossible for him to win, Iruka decided as another ninja appeared on the farther shore. When he saw who it was, Iruka almost lost his concentration – for in his hand, the newcomer held an exotic double-bladed sword that needed no introduction.

With a curse, Iruka kicked the closest ninja in the stomach, used his chakra to fuse the man to the ground as he fell, and in one swift move, kicked him in the groin. Then he started to move back when he realized he could not. He was starting to sink into the mud as he had done before when he was attacked by the group of former Warerfall ninjas.

With great difficulty, Iruka freed one leg, concentrated just enough chakra to stand on the ground that was rapidly turning into a bog, and started to pull out the other. It was then that the ground gave a small – the word he would use later was – shake. In reality, the ground moved beneath his feet as if a shock wave had passed through it. It was the same as he had felt just before Shizune's legs had been broken. Only this time, his foot was inside the mud, and he felt the effect of the jutsu completely.

It was by no means a pleasant experience. The mud holding his leg tightened, twisted and heaved upwards in one smooth move. It was like having his leg caught in a vise and then twisted. Iruka felt his bone break, actually heard it inside his head, the snap followed by the lower part of his leg moving independently of the upper half as the bone pierced his skin and broke out.

Screaming in agony, Iruka pulled his leg free, falling back onto the ground gasping for breath. Shizune was a medi-nin who could control pain, while Iruka had to rely on his meditation techniques, which were about as effective as a leaf against a hail storm. His mental shields were torn to shards by the pain, and he actually whimpered as he pulled himself up, supporting his upper body on his elbows. There was no way he could do anything with his left leg radiating pain. It was like a hot poker from ankle to hip, though the break was about a few inches below his knee.

Iruka tried to bite his lower lip to stop the shout of pain as he reached for his fallen kunai. He could feel tears of pain rolling down his cheeks even as his fingers closed around the handle, shaking in pain. Whatever the jutsu was, it seemed to have also stimulated his nerve endings. It was sheer instinct that made him parry the kunai aimed at his throat – even as he did it, Iruka realized his hands here shaking. His leg was bleeding badly, and he did not think he could hold on for long.

He hoped Kakashi and the dogs had gotten away – he had forgotten to ask Kakashi if he could carry the pup he had carried up to that point. The creature was too small to be able to move as fast as the bigger dogs and … what was he thinking. Kakashi knew the dogs better than he did.

It was as if his chakra was leaking out with his blood; Iruka could feel his entire body shaking and his vision getting blurry. Taking a deep breath, he channeled the last of his chakra into his palms and used it to direct the kunai at the ninja who was heading his way. The kunai struck more by accident than by actual design. The ninja probably did not think Iruka capable of anything more than blowing out a candle and must have let his guard down… Iruka's throw hit the intended target dead on and buried itself to the handle in the other ninja's throat.

Even as the enemy fell, reeling backwards clutching his throat, Iruka realized that he was spent. There was no way he could do anything now. All he could do was bring his arm up in a useless gesture of warding off as the exotic double blade came into view. It was all he could do to hold up his hand – anything more would probably cause him to black out.

At the moment when his entire life was supposed to flash before his eyes, all Iruka could think of was the pile of test papers on his desk waiting to be graded and whether Kakashi would grade them the way he had before.

Iruka hoped that his distraction had bought enough time for the others to get away. He braced himself for the death blow the best he could, drew back and held his breath and waited ….and waited…

As the huge guy with the large blade sank to the ground and the mud split open to reveal Kakashi, who looked surprisingly mud free for a guy who had been underground. Iruka was close enough to the ground that he actually saw Kakashi put his palms on either side of the exotic blade wielders head, the only portion of his body that was above ground, and give it a good twist, breaking his neck instantly.

That done, Kakashi hurried over to Iruka and pushed him down, motioning him to lie still.

"That's a bad break," Kakashi observed calmly. "Think you can faint, Iruka- sensei?"

"What do you think I am," Iruka asked through gritted teeth. "Some woman who's going to faint at the sight of blood."

"Well," said Kakashi, and from the way those expressive lips twitched, it was obvious he wanted to make some snappy comeback but was holding back since it was not the right time for such comments. "I most assuredly know you're not woman," he said instead.

Iruka was about to reply when he felt Kakashi slip an arm under him and pull him up carefully so his leg would not jar unnecessarily. He leaned into the body that was supporting his, feeling grateful as an arm wound around his neck. Then he started to panic as the arm started to cut off his air supply. Iruka struggled briefly, but in his weakened state, it did not take him long to black out.

-- -- -- -- --

"…with him in …"

"…ow could you…"

Iruka could hear snatches of conversation flying overhead. Conversation that was beyond his understanding but comforting. He knew those voices, he thought, as he opened his eyes slowly. The voices were annoying, since his head was aching, but at the same time comforting since they spelled familiarity and that, in turn, meant safety. He turned his head a little and smiled despite the discomfort.

"I'm your senpai, Ino-pig," Sakura yelled as she tried to pull something out of the blonde's hand.

"Go get one of your own, Forehead-girl," Ino shirked, making the trees nearby quiver.

This was a situation he could deal with, Iruka thought, as he smiled with fondness. "Girls, that's enough," he said, and just as at the academy, the girls sprang aside and managed to look both outraged and guilty at the same time.

"She started it," they both said together then looked even guiltier.

"Iruka-sensei," Sakura said -- the first to recover. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel fine," Iruka took stock of his body and sighed. His senses felt blunted as if he was under the influence of … "You've given me some pain killers I see," he said instead.

"Had to," Sakura said reaching for him, sounding all professional. As she approached him, Iruka tried to sit up but was pushed back by Ino, who had appeared on his other side.

"Lie still, sensei," Ino said firmly. "You're still not up to walking."

"Where am I?" Iruka asked, feeling stupid but wanting to know. They were still in a jungle, but the kunoichi were relaxed and … he looked around anxiously. "Kakashi … the dogs… where are they?"

"Kakashi-sensei left early to deliver a scroll to the village," Sakura said, sounding rather hurt, and Iruka decided his departure had been rather abrupt. "He took the dogs that could walk with him. The ones that were badly hurt remained behind so we could treat them." Well, Kakashi did have a mission to complete, he told himself, to fend off the pang of disappointment that accompanied the news.

"He set your leg before he left," Ino replied a little grumpily. "By the time we got here, it was already healing, so all we had to do was work on the dogs."

"It wasn't too bad," Sakura intervened. "Tsunade-sama has always told me that it's good to be prepared for anything."

"But dogs…" Ino wailed, making her feelings clear about the whole situation. "We're training to be medi-nins, not vets."

"Each member of the team is important to the whole," Sakura said as if reciting, and from Iruka's experience, she probably was. Sakura had an excellent memory and needed only to hear something once to commit it to memory. "These can include nin-dogs, horses and other animals that can help the…"

"Are you two alone?" Iruka asked, as he realized he was lying flat on his back in a clearing in the woods. And he really did not feel like listening to one of Sakura's recitals.

"We're a three-man team," Ino replied with pride.

"Who's the third person?" Iruka asked, wondering if Gai had come back – but he could not see Gai with the two medi-nins in training. It always took a barrelful of patience to put up with these two in the same team, so it had to be someone with a strong sense of will….

"Ready to move, Iruka-sensei?"

"Ibiki-san!" Iruka said, startled.

"You seem surprised," the taller man said with a grimace of a smile.

"You don't seem the type to form a three-man team with two girls," Iruka replied with an answering smile which was rather unsteady. Ibiki always made him feel nervous.

"These two are undergoing medi-nin training with Tsunade-sama1," Ibiki replied shortly. "She referred them to me so I can teach them how to treat victims of torture and rape. Sometimes the medi-nin also doubles as a team councilor and in the front lines must work hard so ninjas can get up and go on fighting."

"In other words, the ugly side of being a ninja," Iruka said, feeling a little sad. Not everyone was ready for that – for being captured by an enemy did not always mean a certain death. Sometimes, death was kinder than what was in store for a prisoner – gender notwithstanding.

"It's my area of specialization," Ibiki replied curtly, reminding Iruka that he was the village's head interrogator. "You're in no condition to walk – I'll have to carry you. Can you get on my back?"

Iruka blanched at the thought of getting on the bigger man's back but decided he had no choice but to do so. His leg hurt far too much for him to walk on, and it would be needless to protest over such a trivial matter. After all, he had taught his students how to carry an injured comrade in the field – now it would look stupid if he were to protest over it.

"We're moving out – girls. Ino, you will take point. Sakura, you're in back with the dogs -- can the dogs move?"

"They're ready," said Sakura, sounding professional and alert at the same time. "I'll carry the pup." Iruka whipped his head around at the mention of the pup, knowing for sure it was the one he had carried. He wondered what was wrong with it, but seeing it safe in Sakura's grip reassured a bit. It was in safe hands, and anyway, Iruka was in no condition to carry someone when he himself was being carried.

They set a medium pace, jumping through the tree branches slowly in leisurely hops, Ino in front and Sakura at the back. Iruka wound his hands around Ibiki's shoulders and hoped he would not fall off in mid-jump, feeling slightly embarrassed by the whole thing. It was unsettling to be so close to another male when he had been with Kakashi, even if the whole thing was totally platonic. Ibiki's back was wider than Kakashi's, and he smelled faintly of metal and sweat. So different from Kakashi, Iruka could not help thinking, even as he became aware that he was subtly sniffing the man.

It was also bothersome that Iruka did not know if Kakashi had made his way back to the village safely or not. He might have, but what of his chakra – had he been able to stabilize it? Why had he not waited for Iruka to regain consciousness? And where exactly did he stand with Kakashi? They'd had sex but was that all there was to it? Did it mean anything more than a one-night stand, a desperate groping in a small hovel just before a mission?

As if reading his mind, Ibiki spoke quietly. "Iruka-sensei." His voice was quiet, and Iruka could feel the rumble deep within the large man starting from his chest. "You should not think so hard about things you can't influence."

"And how would you know what I'm thinking of," Iruka said, half amused, his voice also pitched low so the girls on either end could not hear their conversation.

"That's what I'm good at," Ibiki said casually. "I'm good at studying people; I can usually tell a lot about them just by looking at them. If I did not have that ability, I would be useless at my job."

"What can you tell me about myself?' Iruka asked curiously.

"I'm not in the business of fortune-telling," Ibiki said abruptly, making Iruka blush.

"No, I meant, what can you say about my character?" Iruka asked probingly. "You can be harsh, I don't mind that."

"You might not like what I tell you," Ibiki warned.

"I can live with it," Iruka said softly. He had lived through worse …

"_But just tell me…did you really care for me? If Naruto had not asked …would you have even looked at me?"_

"_No."_

"You, Iruka-sensei, will most probably never make it to jounin," Ibiki said softly. "It's not because you lack talent or because of your low chakra level. There are ninja with much, much less ability who will make it to that level by their will alone. In your case, you do not have the psychological make-up needed to be a cold-blooded killer. It's not a bad thing, really – the village could do with a few more mentally stable individuals."

"That's not too bad," Iruka said, after reflecting on Ibiki's words. "You made it sound as if all the jounin were cold-blooded and mentally unstable."

"Not all, just some," Ibiki said with a shrug of his shoulder that had Iruka clutching the interrogator's flak jacket for balance. "Take for example … your recent lover…"

Iruka was so startled that he felt his hand slip and had to struggle to catch himself. "How did you know?" he asked.

"Body language," Ibiki said with a shrug. "Kakashi and I spoke before he went off – Gai told me to bring him some gear to change into -- and the way he acted around you told me as much. And if you recall, I met you in front of Kakashi's apartment looking distressed, and there was Gai acting as the village matchmaker. Gai might be a taijutsu expert, but he's not very discreet. It did not take a genius to figure out where that was going."

"Oh." Iruka was quiet for a while. "I don't suppose you can give me a character assessment of Kakashi as well," he said finally.

"That would be a betrayal of trust," Ibiki said, making Iruka blush again, since he had really asked about something truly personal. But still, he wanted to know.

"Maybe," Iruka said softly, pushing it. "He accused me of not knowing him. I thought I knew him but …maybe I don't."

"When you are young, adults seem so all-knowing and perfect," Ibiki said softly. "When you fall in love, that person becomes forever the one true perfection. Then you grow up and you meet more people, but you will always compare them with your one true love, forever comparing with the idea of what the perfect lover should be. A memory that is timeless…"

"Because your true love is dead, and you've never seen him grow old or wrinkled or have faults," Iruka completed silently. "Ibiki-san, did you just tell me Kakashi compares everyone in his life with Min – his sensei."

"I see I'm not the only one he fell asleep with after sex and talked in his sleep to," Ibiki remarked dryly, making Iruka spasm with a surge of jealousy so great it startled him.

"_I only talk in my sleep when I feel safe with someone." _

"Relax, sensei," Ibiki laughed gently, making his body shake. "He and I were too alike for it to have lasted long. He is also good at reading people, knowing the correct thing to say to goad people into fighting, provoking them. He knew I could read him the same way he could read me. It was far too disconcerting to have lasted long."

"So," said Iruka almost to himself. "He's in love with a ghost."

"He _thinks_ he's in love with a ghost," Ibiki corrected Iruka firmly. "He strikes back at people who come close to seeing through that mask of his. Some of his poor social skills are deliberate attempts at keeping people at a distance, but I have a feeling you've gotten through to him on some levels."

"He accused me of loving him without knowing him," Iruka said softly, but he felt a warm feeling in his middle almost like hope. "And he doesn't care for me at all." Even as he said that, Iruka remembered the night they'd spent together.

"_Just imagine you fucking me hard on this bed…you can spread my legs and use your binding technique to fix me to this bed as surely as a…I want you to. Always did."_

Was it even possible to say such things to a person you had no feelings about?

"Well, they do say it's nice to know what sort of person you love," Ibiki said a tad sarcastically. "In case you wind up with a mass-murderer or some weirdo with a tendency to pick his nose at the dinner table…"

Iruka had to give a snort of laughter at that and then said, "You surprise me, Ibiki-san. I didn't think you had a sense of humor."

"Amazing what you can develop when you are saddled with two teenage girls who pluck their eyebrows out for fun. It's something I wouldn't consider doing for a torture technique."

Iruka smiled at that, remembering the time Ino had fainted at school because the bandages had been too tight and had prevented her from breathing properly. "They do go through a lot of pain to look good, don't they," he agreed as the Konaha gates came in sight.

"Iruka-sensei," Ibiki said softly. "Just remember, you can never know a person completely. To know someone completely is impossible, even when you've known a person all your life – but you can still love someone. You can love them for what they are no matter what. It's called unconditional love."

Iruka remained silent as they reached the gate.

"Once you get an all-clear from the hospital, you might want to drop in on someone, sensei," Ibiki said knowingly, and Iruka understood the implication behind those words.

He was going to pay Hatake Kakashi a visit, and they were going to have a word.

A/N- Before writing any anime fight scene I would advice everyone to read the laws below. /shinomegami/animelaws.html -Laws of Anime

1 At the end of the filler episodes, Ino also approaches Sakura and asks to be trained as a medi-nin under Tsunade though there is not much mention of it in the Shippuuden.


	17. Chapter 17

Part 17

Part 17

Iruka's ears were ringing and his hair looked as if head just come out of a wind tunnel; if his hair had been white, it would have looked liked Kakashi's. He looked around a little dazed and was somewhat embarrassed to see Sakura standing to the side with her hands crossed, looking at him with a smile of affection, as if she was the adult and he was the child.

He had a glimpse of what she would grow up to be, a pink-haired Tsunade, only more skillful and perhaps a little less prone to fits of irrationality -- that is, unless she decided not to take up drinking.

"Iruka-sensei," Sakura managed to sound both pleased and amused at the same time. "It's good to see you in one piece after that talking-to you got."

"I wouldn't exactly call it a talking-to," Iruka said with a weak smile, running a hand through his hair to try and push it down, giving a rather shaky grin to his former student. It was the first time he had been on the receiving end of Tsunade's wrath, and it had not being pleasant.

"Kakashi-sensei just brought back a hoard of dogs, didn't he?" she said, looking up from her notes. "Heard Tsunade-sama wasn't too happy with that."

"You don't say," Iruka said dryly, as he recalled the scolding he had gotten. While Tsunade had not been overly harsh, no Iruka thought, she had been just loud. Tsunade had also emphasized that as a chunnin she had expected Iruka to be more sensible than his senior when it came to mission parameters. Then she had told him off for stupidity, willful evasion of duty, insubordination, vandalism, and willful destruction of a public building before pronouncing him free to leave once he'd let himself be examined to make sure he was not suffering from the effects of the jutsu.

It seemed the person offering the second opinion was Sakura, which was not very surprising, since Sakura was Tsunade's student. Still, it made Iruka feel awfully old that the medi-nins were all younger than he was -- and his students.

Iruka got to his feet carefully, rolled down the pants leg and tested his leg. The leg muscles screamed, and his toes refused to move, but all in all his leg was intact, and he could move. Perhaps even run if needed, though he was not willing to push that point -- his knee was protesting as well, and he knew better than to push his body after being injured.

Though his leg was far from completely healed, he could see the unbroken skin through the torn and blood-soaked material of the pants and was grateful for that. He was glad he had been close to help when it had happened -- better ninja than he had been crippled for life because they had not received proper medical care in time. Which made Iruka remember that Kakashi had fixed his leg, which in turn meant that he should really thank the man, even though he was not sure how to begin.

"May I leave now?" he asked Sakura politely.

"I suppose you can, though I should warn you to take it easy for at least a week," she said sternly. "Iruka-sensei, Tsunade-sama told me to tell you that you should take a day off school and rest the leg. Standing on it the entire day would not be advisable."

"I'll take the day off, I promise," said Iruka, nodding in what he hoped was an agreeable way, while thinking perhaps he should go over to Kakashi's house to thank him. But would that make Iruka look pushy, as if he was stalking? Perhaps he should wait until he met Kakashi accidentally to thank him. But what if Iruka didn't run into Kakashi for a while -- it seemed rather stupid that he should thank Kakashi, say, a month after the incident, which would make it sound less important. Maybe he should write a thank-you note to Kakashi, but did ninjas write thank-you notes? Maybe he should send a message through someone -- but that sounded rather rude, so maybe perhaps he should wait somewhere he was sure he was going to run into the silver haired ninja and …

"Are you all right, sensei?" Sakura sounded worried.

"I'm fine," Iruka replied, flushing, when he realized he had been standing with his mouth open for some time, while Sakura had recited to him a list of 'dos and don'ts'. "I have to go. I have a … a lot of grading to do and …"

"Very well," Sakura said in a brisk tone. "If you can sign here to show you walked out of the hospital on you own free will." She handed him a note pad and smiled. "Oh, I almost forgot. There's someone here to see you."

"I'll have my report in by tomorrow," Iruka said a little hurriedly, curious to know who had come to visit.

"Tell Kakashi-sensei to hand over his as well," Sakura said a little wryly. "And tell him Master is not amused by him addressing her as Tsunami-sama in his reports."

"I'll remember to tell him that," Iruka replied, forcing a smile. He limped to the room door and pulled it open, his heart in his mouth, hoping to see -- well, who was he kidding, he had been hoping to see Kakashi, but what he did see an empty hallway. He looked around a little confused …

"Yo, Sonny-boy," a familiar voice greeted him from near his feet and Iruka looked down, not sure if he was disappointed or glad.

"Pakkun," he said, scooting down, wincing as his knee reminded him of his recent leg injury. "Did Kakashi send you here?" he asked before he could bite his tongue.

"I'm on my own," the small pug replied carefully, and Iruka felt pang of disappointment. "Come on, she's asking for you."

"Who's asking for me?" Iruka asked, a little mystified. He did not know of anyone who would ask for him – especially a female who was capable of sending Pakkun. "Tsunade-sama already spoke to me and…"

"No," Pakkun sounded a little amused. "God knows why, but the bitch seems to have a soft spot for you…" Iruka stared in surprise at the word -- dog or not, Pakkun was going to have his mouth washed in soap. "…must have been because you were lugging her along with you for a while."

Iruka looked slightly surprised and then his face cleared in understanding. "Where exactly is she?" he asked.

"Inuzuka hospital," the dog said with a slight tilt of its upper lip which could be interpreted as a smile.

"Ah," said Iruka seen the light. "The puppy … how's she?"

"Alive," the pug grunted. "Come on; I haven't got all day."

"I'm coming," Iruka said good naturedly, as he started to limp down the sterile corridors of the Konoha hospital. "Did she really ask for me?" he asked tentatively, feeling a little pleased by the turn of events. No one had asked for him like that ever. If felt sort of nice.

"You did defend the pack," Pakkun said with a look over his shoulder. "You've earned the right to be one of us."

"Uh," said Iruka wondering if he had been made an honorary dog. "Thank you, I think."

"That means we'll defend you if you ever need us," Pakkun said with a smirk.

"Oh!"

"But priority will be given to Kakashi…"

"Of course."

"But we can bend the rules a little, seeing as you don't have as much chakra as he does, even though you did put up a heck of a fight with that Mizuki guy last time, and the lot you brought in from the Rain Country tells me you did risk your life for them…"

"Uh!"

"…and you are mating with the boss so…"

"What!"

"…I fail to see the purpose of that since its very unlikely either of you will whelp…"

"How did you know we… that is me and Kakashi … you know…" Iruka managed to squeeze in more than a word in finally as Pakkun paused for breath.

"Smell," Pakkun replied shortly, and Iruka remembered that he had not had a chance to wash after getting back from the mission. The last time he had washed had been when he'd hastily wiped the dried semen off his stomach before he and Kakashi had set off to rescue the dogs. Oh! _Oh!_

"Well, come on," Pakkun said, when Iruka stopped in embarrassment. "We don't have time for you to go through heat flashes."

What?" Iruka snapped before he realized his face a burning from all the blood rushing to his cheeks. "Let's just go," he agreed.

As he was nearing the end of the corridor they passed by a room with a partially open door and inside, a flash of green. He approached the door tentatively and knocked on it before pushing it open fully. Shizune sat in what passed for a small office, filling out some forms, looking radiant, and talking to Gai, who was practically bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

"Gai-sensei, Shizune-sama," Iruka greeted them. "How are you?"

"Iruka-sensei, my most loyal former teammate and vision of youth," Gai bellowed happily. "It is nice to see you on your feet. We heard one of your legs suffered the same fate as Shizune's did and…"

"Why are you still here?" Iruka blurted out. He was already on his feet as Gai had pointed out, though he had broken one leg in contrast to Shizune who had broken both of her legs. But she had been brought to the hospital before he had been, so she should have been up and about by now.

"Iruka-sensei," Shizune smiled warmly at him. "I'm here because Tsunade is a little behind her in paperwork, and I have to get it in order before the next council meeting."

"It's nice to see you are feeling better," Iruka said with feeling before he could stop it.

"Where are you going now?" Gai interrupted. "We were going to go to Ichiraku's to get something to eat. We can discuss our mission and perhaps the conclusion, which I seemed to have missed."

Iruka shook his head regretfully, though his stomach reminded him that he hadn't eaten in quite a while. "No," he said with a grimace. "I have to go to the Inuzuka hospital to pick up …"

"Say no more," Gai said with a smile. "Go, go, my eternal rival must be waiting for you."

"I think that's highly unlikely," Iruka said a little weakly.

But Gai was hardly listening to him as he steered Iruka towards the door with a forceful hand around his shoulder. When they were both standing in the corridor, Gai turned towards Iruka with a wide smile and said in what he probably considered to be a whisper, "Shizune, the lovely lady who holds my heart in her bosom, has agreed to go out with me on an official date day after tomorrow. She said it was only a trial, but that is more than enough to make hope bloom in my still-beating heart, and…"

"That's nice," Iruka smiling genuinely. "She agreed to this after you brought her back to the village?"

"Actually," Gai's forehead wrinkled he tried to recall something. "I was carrying her on my back, and she said, '_Gai my legs haven't healed yet, so if you stop doing those ridiculous jumps, I'll do anything you ask_.'"

"Ah," said Iruka at a loss for anything to say. "So you asked her out." _At least Gai was honorable, if a little stupid. _

"And she said yes." Gai looked cluelessly happy.

"That's nice," Iruka said a little weakly. Iruka did not think Shizune would ever agree to anything she did not want to do, and she had gotten to know Gai better during their time together. It might not be a bad thing. He hoped the conversation was over, since his leg muscle was spasming painfully from standing still, but Gai kept on beaming at him as if he expected Iruka to say something else. Iruka cleared his throat and asked, "What are you going to wear?"

"Wear?" Gai looked stunned, looking at his green spandex suit.

"Well -- you know," said Iruka, wondering how to break the news to Gai about his choice of clothes.

"She's just getting used to you, so you don't want to smother her with your manliness and your greenness, do you?" Pakkun said a little dryly from the floor.

"Perhaps a combination of green and something else," Iruka injected.

"Ah!" Gai nodded in understanding. "Yes, of course, I should not overwhelm her."

"Isn't that great," Pakkun said with a grimace. "Iruka-sensei can help you pick something to wear tomorrow. Let's go sensei, there are puppies waiting for you."

Iruka bowed a little awkwardly to Gai and ran out behind Pakkun, hurriedly.

"I suppose you might want to change your clothes, too," Pakkun said to Iruka as they hurried to the exit.

"I do?" Iruka queried mystified.

"You'll have to take that bitch back to Kakashi, right?" Pakkun said as if it as obvious. "You can't go there dressed in torn clothes, smelling like a week old condom."

Yes, Kakashi's dogs had as much tact as their owner did.

-- -- -- -- --

Iruka stood in front of Kakashi's apartment door, heart in hand, puppy tucked under his breastbone -- well, it felt that way--and waited for the door to open.

The puppy had indeed seemed to be happy to see Iruka and wagged her tail enthusiastically, yapping.

"I don't understand a word you're saying but I expect you must be glad to see me," Iruka had said, picking up the pup and giving it, or rather her, a hug.

"Don't expect her to talk back," Pakkun had replied grumpily. "There isn't enough nin-dog blood in any of them to be anything other than a mediocre guard dog, if they're lucky."

"I don't know," had said Iruka with a grin. "They seemed to respond to voice commands very well."

"What would you know," the pug had made Iruka feel totally incompetent before heading out. "God knows what we'll do with the lot."

Which was how Iruka had ended up at Kakashi's apartment, ready to take ownership of one pup he had recently rescued and carried back. He'd prepared a speech; that he was more than ready to take responsibility for another life. After all, he had a steady job and was home more often than not. He additionally had being a part of the rescue operation and had as much right as Kakashi did to the pup.

A small voice in the back of his head pointed out that Iruka could have simply sent the message via Pakkun, and that Kakashi could have replied in the same way, and this was a ruse by Iruka to visit the Copy-nin. He did have to thank Kakashi, Iruka reasoned, and though he was looking forward to seeing Kakashi, he did not think the man had any real feelings for him. True, he had felt hopeful after talking to Ibiki, but as his mother used to say, hope was a demon with the face of an angel. 1 All Iruka was going to do was smile, tell Kakashi that he was grateful for the care Kakashi had given his leg and then ask if it was all right for the pup to come and live with Iruka.

That was all.

He was not going to expect Kakashi to be nice to him or speak to him civilly or even actually let him take the pup. Still…

The door was wrenched open after what felt like an hour after Iruka had knocked and Iruka opened his mouth and blurted out, "You're wearing shorts!"

Kakashi was wearing a pair of shorts made from cut off jounin pants, a loose shirt buttoned halfway up and, of course, a mask.

"I know," Kakashi said sounding amused.

"I brought him here just like asked me to," Pakkun said a little too loudly, looking at Iruka pointedly as he walked in, leaving Iruka and Kakashi standing in the doorway awkwardly. Iruka looked down, feeling a little pleased; if he was not mistaken, Kakashi had instructed Pakkun to bring Iruka to Kakashi, so that must mean something. Like Iruka meaning something to Kakashi.

"Would you like to come in, Iruka-sensei, and …uh… yes … Pakkun. Thank you."

Blushing, Iruka looked down at Kakashi's bare feet and bit back a smile. The great Copy-nin was flustered, which could not be a bad thing, all things considered. He stepped in carefully, making sure not to look wide-eyed and curious, though he was dying to look around the place, toed off his sandals and then looked around.

Iruka had been expecting to find himself in what passed for a sitting room in jounin quarters. Instead, he found himself in an indoor courtyard overflowing with dogs and various bathing items.

"You're bathing them," Iruka guessed, stating the obvious.

"They're bathing themselves," Kakashi replied dryly, as he pulled his mask down. "They'd better be or else they will not get anything to eat. I'll take that, thank you," he added plucking the pup out of Iruka's unresisting fingers deftly and passing it – her-- off to some large dog who took the pup by the scruff of the neck.

"There seem to be a lot of dogs here," Iruka said weakly, feeling pleased that Kakashi had pushed down his mask so casually in front of Iruka. True, Iruka had already seen Kakashi's face so it was pointless to cover it, but still, the familiarity of the gesture touched him.

"Actually," Iruka started. "I was hoping you could let me keep the pup that…"

"Yes," Kakashi agreed readily. "Take Pakkun."

"No!" Iruka exclaimed before he could help it.

"Whom exactly are you calling pup?" Pakkun called from the depths of a bubble-filled bath. "And what do you mean no. I'm the perfect companion for anyone."

"I was hoping for the one I carried over," Iruka explained.

"I'll have to find home for nearly of them," Kakashi said wryly. "Inzuka clinic can take in one, you can take the pup and few more as well if you want."

"I'll start off with one pup," Iruka said hastily.

"As you wish," Kakashi said with a shrug and turned towards a side door. "We're going to have something to eat now. Would you like to join us?"

Iruka looked at the sky, which was getting dark, and shook his head. "No, I have to get going; I have a few papers to grade and…" His stomach growled, and Iruka blushed wildly at that.

"That's settled it," said Kakashi decisively. "Ramen and boiled liver it is."

-- -- -- -- --

They all ate seated at a long table in a large dinning room, even the dogs, who sat on high stools. Thankfully, the boiled liver turned out to be for the dogs only, and they all had miso ramen heated from boxes.

"So," said Iruka eating his ramen, making a note to invite Kakashi to dinner as a way of repayment. No, not as an excuse to see the guy, maybe he'd invite all sixteen dogs as well. "You sent Pakkun to get me."

"Ah, yes," said Kakashi looking slightly flustered. "That is so … everyone here can thank you."

"Thank me!"

"For staying behind to the rescue the dogs," Kakashi explained. "For staying behind to help us out at the last moment."

"That was …" Iruka blushed and looked down. "Leaving you or the dogs was never an option … I'd have never done that."

For a moment, some emotion seemed to fly across Kakashi's face, but that cleared instantly, making Iruka wonder if he'd imagined the expression. "I wanted to thank you, too," Iruka said softly. "For healing my leg."

"Well, I couldn't exactly leave you there bleeding, could I?" Kakashi said casually, waving his chopsticks around. "Though I heard you were brought to the village on someone's back, sensei. You must be getting soft."

"I was in no condition to walk," Iruka protested, wondering if he was being teased or told off for his weaknesses.

"Really," Kakashi smirked. "Maybe for you, sensei, but the day someone carries me back to the village after a mission will be the day I eat my sandals."

"I'll be looking forward to that," Iruka said with feeling.

"You wish." All Kakashi had to do was stick out his tongue to resemble a five year old.

Iruka snorted at the image then smiled. "Ibiki-san was quite nice," he said. "He had a lot to say about you." There, he'd ventured into uncharted territory.

"Ibiki is a fool," Kakashi said with a snort, and Pakkun managed to cough something in the back ground. The dogs started clearing out one by one, leaving the two humans alone to continue on with their conversation.

"Oh!"

"What did he tell you, anyway?" Kakashi asked, discarding his chopsticks into the bowl, looking serious. He reached for his mask and seemed indecisive, as if wondering whether to pull it up or not after he'd finished eating.

"Nothing much," Iruka said, wishing he'd never brought up the subject. Kakashi reaching for his mask meant he was on the defensive, and that was not a good thing. "He did mention that the two of you had been together."

"He did." Kakashi's voice sounded cold as he looked across at Iruka. "Did he tell you that it was almost thirteen years ago and that it was only one night?"

"I'm sorry I brought this up," Iruka said standing up. "I did not mean to…"

"Sit down sensei," Kakashi gestured. "Remember I told you that I never sleep over with anyone – he was the reason why. He wasn't even a jounin then, but he was already practicing his interrogation skills. One slip of the tongue, and the man would hound you to the ends of the Earth demanding more information. His techniques might have improved with time, but he's the same person, still."

"Oh," said Iruka in realization, wondering if he had been too relaxed around Ibiki. Had he imparted something personal which could be used against him?

"Don't you worry," Kakashi said with a sweeping away gesture. "Last I heard, the man had piles, and Tsunade-sama herself is treating him."

Iruka chocked and coughed up a laugh at the image that brought up. "That's not very nice," he managed.

"He deserves it," Kakashi said decisively. "Poking his nose where it doesn't belong."

"Everyone has a good side and a bad side," Iruka said, fighting the urge to continue laughing. "You just have to expect the best of them, and they'll never let you down."

There was a long silence, and while Iruka was wondering if he had inadvertently put his foot in his mouth, Kakashi looked at him and said softly, "That's the sort of thing my sensei would say."

Iruka remained silent, wishing he was elsewhere. He knew when he was being compared to the incomparable. Konoha's Yellow Flash was everything, while he was a small-time school teacher with a huge crush on a fellow ninja who was chasing a ghost.

"You remind me of him, sometimes," Kakashi said softly, and Iruka looked up, surprised.

"I'm nothing like the Fourth," he said vehemently.

"You look nothing like him," Kakashi agreed readily. "He was beautiful, so bright, with his hair and his flashy moves. While you, sensei, I think are barely noticeable. You know, I never noticed you before the chuunin exam, though I must have been handing over mission reports to you for a long time before that."

"I know," Iruka agreed with good grace. Anything to make the torture stop.

"And even after Naruto asked me to watch over you, I would not have really seen you for what you were capable of if you hadn't taken down that Mist nin," Kakashi continued. "Remember you asked me once if I'd have even looked at you if Naruto had not asked me to, and I answered no."

"_But just tell me…did you really care for me? If Naruto had not asked …would you have even looked at me?"_

"_No."_

"I remember that clearly," Iruka told Kakashi coldly. "I think I should leave, now that I've finished eating. Thank you for …"

"Sit down, sensei. Is there a pin on your chair? That's the second time you've stood up…"

"I think I want to leave," Iruka said, making no move to hide his feelings. "I don't think I can take this anymore."

"I haven't finished," Kakashi said slowly, and his hands moved in the familiar hand seals, and suddenly Iruka was pushed back into his chair. "Just listen."

"Looks like I have no choice," Iruka replied, cursing his foolishness for coming here. He'd been burned once before, so what had he been thinking? But he might as well see this to the end instead of standing up and trying to bolt again. Save himself from future pain.

"As I was saying," Kakashi continued calmly. "I didn't notice you until Naruto asked me to watch over you, but then when I went to the Bird Country I saw the Daimayo there…

"Toki-sama," Iruka supplied helpfully.

"…and it got me thinking that she did look rather a lot like you…"

"And you wanted to see my sexy-no-jutsu on top of humiliating me," Iruka said angrily.

"…and you did have some sex appeal," Kakashi finished with a flourish.

"Thank you," Iruka snapped back. "What is this, my humiliation by you? Haven't you done enough?"

"Like I said," Kakashi said calmly. "You were rather irresistible at the dojo, sweaty, flushed and barely clad…"

Iruka remembered the moment …

_Kakashi had looked the same, his hair in disarray, his face covered, but despite all that, Iruka had sensed that something was different. If he were to describe it, he would have called it hunger._

"…but then you had to spoil it all that by showing up at my doorstep demanding if Naruto had asked me to look after you," Kakashi said and paused, his head tilted to a side. "I could never figure out what was wrong with that."

"It was all wrong," Iruka shouted. "He was paying you to look after me and you were … you were being a bastard!"

"What was wrong with it?" Kakashi asked looking puzzled.

"He was paying you to screw me," Iruka shouted, his eyes blazing.

"Sex with you and the mission had no connection," Kakashi said with a frown. "Though having sex with you forced me to be in close contact with you, which made it easier to look after you."

"But…"

"Why did you sound so defensive about it?"

"You took his money," Iruka tried to reason, but anger was making it difficult for him to form coherent sentences.

"I took it so I can look after it," Kakashi said. "Jiraiya always dips into other people's wallets if he can, so I was safeguarding some of his savings until Naruto came back. I have no reason to take money from him. I do earn enough on my own."

Iruka did not know what to say – he had not expected that.

"He is my sensei's son," Kakashi added softly. "I'll look after him with my life."

"I'm sorry about that," Iruka said in a small voice. "I misinterpreted your actions."

"As I did with you," Kakashi said after a small pause. "It was not until you came on that mission with me that I realized just how much you were like him …my sensei, I mean."

-- -- -- -- --

this is the guy who could not remember having met Kisame the first time. He's not very bright, even in the canon. Watch Shippuudens :) This comment is by my beta. I'm going to leave it as it is. LOL I loved those scenes SO MUCH! I really think Gai was doing it to annoy Kisame.

1 Actually, that was Xena the Warrior princess who said that and no, she is not Iruka's mother :)


	18. Chapter 18

Part 18

A/N- I'm sorry for the delay. I just finished posting a 1x5 mpreg so yeah, I have an excuse.

Part 18

"It was not until you came on that mission with me that I realized just how much you were like him …my sensei, I mean," Kakashi said, leaning back into his chair as if getting ready to continue with the topic.

Iruka opened his mouth to ask why Kakashi had said that after having just told Iruka he was nothing like the Fourth, when the sound of nails on wooden floorboards announced Pakkun's arrival.

"What's all the shouting about?" he demanded loudly, sounding more like an adult than either of them had a few minutes ago.

"Nothing," Iruka answered hastily.

"Don't give me nothing," Pakkun said clearly annoyed. "What's all the fuss about – is it the food?"

"No," said Iruka who thought boxed miso-ramen one step below mission food; with mission food at least, you just put it in your mouth and chewed, you did not need to think about adding hot water.

"I knew it …" Pakkun continued warming up to his own topic. "I told him we should wait a little before giving a thank-you dinner, but nooooooo, he had to get it over with as soon as possible."

"Pakkun," Kakashi said in a warning tone, which the pug overlooked.

"I told him we didn't have real food, since our lord and master was out on a mission for a few weeks, and all the perishables…"

Iruka blinked; had the pug just referred to Kakashi as lord and master in a sarcastic tone which suggested just the opposite?

"I told you to stock up on food," Kakashi interrupted. "And I did not mean liver."

"Who was too mean to leave enough money to run this household properly?" Pakkun shot back.

"Who told you to go and buy chicken liver?; do you know how expensive that is?" Kakashi yelled back.

Iruka looked from one to the other, confirmed neither looked angry, and came to the conclusion that this was a regular occurrence. Still, why would Kakashi want the dinner with him over with as soon as possible? Didn't you get unpleasant things out of the way quickly – did that mean dinner with Iruka was a chore to get through as quickly as possible?. With a sigh, Iruka turned his head to listen to the rest of the argument, which sounded like a rattled-off expense sheet as the two debated the cost of each article …

"Why was it necessary for you to use conditioner? I never use conditioner," Kakashi was shouting.

"Exactly," Pakkun shouted back.

Iruka thought it an excellent time for him to sneak away, but the moment he got to his feet, Pakkun's attention was diverted to another household problem. He looked up, sniffed the air and then trotted out of the dining room yelling, "All right, who was the smart ass that peed on the doorpost. I want him here now; there's only one alpha dog here, and that's me. If there is any territory to be marked that's going to be done under supervision, so …"

"Sit down, sensei," Kakashi said with a wave of the hand, running his other hand through his hair in a manner which indicated he was tired. "Butt-sniffing and all is going to keep Pakkun occupied for at least another half an hour. Don't let him scare you away."

"I'm not …" Iruka started to say, then realized that if he was tired, then Kakashi must also be tired. The Copy-nin had been undercover a lot longer than Iruka had been, and he had come back from the mission and had to deal with fifteen dogs – neurotic dogs at that--on the top of everything. "We can continue this discussion later," he said a little more calmly. "You must be tired; I know I am, and we've both got mission reports to hand over." There, that sounded reasonable, didn't it?

"Come on," said Kakashi getting up quickly. "While they're busy aroma-categorizing pee puddles, I want to show you something."

"Oh?" Iruka asked slightly curious.

"It's in my bedroom," Kakashi answered cryptically.

Iruka blushed slightly and wondered if it was good idea to follow the Icha-Icha-reading pervert into his bedroom. When Iruka had been small, his maternal grandmother, who for some reason had thought he was a girl (or was aware of his sexual preferences before he was), had taught him the dangers of following strange men into their bedrooms.

While Kakashi did not qualify as a stranger, he did qualify as a strange man. Oh, well, thought Iruka with a mental shrug, it wasn't as if he had not seen it all before, and it was just wishful thinking on his part if he thought Kakashi was going to ravish him. Ravish – did he really think "ravish" ? -- he must be tired if he was describing his life in Icha-Icha terms.

Kakashi's bedroom was rather nice, if a little on the bare side, green bedspread, a table with papers scattered on it and the side table. 2 On the far side was a walk-in closet and a few other odd items. The window opened to rooftops, and a rather nice view of the Hokage Mountain, but the view was offset by the fine netting of chakra wire that acted as a barrier keeping the outside world separate from the inside. The room was devoid of any personal touches apart from two photos, one of Kakashi with team seven and the other of Kakashi's own genin team with the Fourth. It was such a bitter reminder of all that was gone and lost that Iruka looked away grimacing. He hoped whatever Kakashi was going to show him was not anything as depressing as what he had already seen.

Kakashi looked at Iruka directly then and smiled slightly, lopsidedly, as if mocking him. "Why do you think you're in love with me, sensei?" he asked seriously.

"Because…" Iruka tried to find the words to describe Kakashi. "Because you're you, I suppose."

"That's a lame answer," Kakashi said, looking away. He walked towards the closet, opened the door and started to root around at the bottom of it. While the sight of the pale-skinned man bending over, wearing shorts that rode down to reveal a distinct lack of underwear was tempting, Iruka did not feel anything apart from apprehension. Whatever Kakashi was going to show him, he did not want to see.

When the Copy-nin finally produced the object, it was a remarkably innocuous-looking, a wooden disk with a floral pattern on it. It also had a few letters, wavy, merged into the background so they was not readily obvious. Iruka looked at it for a moment, reached forward to take it then drew back his hand frowning. "What is it?" he asked wryly.

"A mistake of my youth," Kakashi answered as he tossed it up and caught it as if it was of little significance, but Iruka could see that wood had been recently polished. It gleamed as if varnished, and if he squinted hard enough, he could see a small crack that had been filled carefully.

"And what was it called before it became known as the mistake of your youth?" Iruka asked tolerantly, having gotten used to evasive answers from his students. Plus, he had a hunch that Kakashi would tell him what it was eventually, since Iruka had been invited up here in the first place for that purpose.

"This is also known as the Family Crest of the Hatakes," Kakashi said as he deposited it back into his closet, evading Iruka's fingers as if by accident.

Iruka waited patiently while Kakashi looked around and finally sighed. "A few years after my father killed himself, while I was going through his belongings, I found out that he had gotten a letter from the Hatake Clan head – dated two days before the end, informing him that he was disowned from the clan. They wanted his Hatake crest returned, since he was no longer fit to bear it."

Kakashi broke off, and Iruka knew he was left to come to a conclusion on his own. Iruka wanted to tell Kakashi a lot of things, such as it might not have been what had led up to the suicide of the White Fang of Konoha. Or perhaps it had, but indirectly, since there had been a lot of factors against the senior Hatake and surely, it was like the straw that broke the camel's back. Still, he held his tongue and nodded, knowing, for one thing, that Kakashi was no fool and must have been aware of these things and secondly, it was years too late, and whatever mistake Kakashi had committed was long over.

"I decided to take it back," Kakashi continued simply. "For my father."

"I take it you did not go over and ask for it," Iruka said a little dryly before he could help himself.

"I wish," Kakashi said with a grimace. "I decided to break into the compound and steal it, only technically it wasn't stealing, since it was my birthright as well…"

Iruka decided to remain silent and let the story play out.

"It was rather stupid, I think when I look back, since the compound was guarded better than the Hokage mansion. Breaking in was easy; leaving with my prize was not -- there were all these people running after me …chasing me, so to speak," Kakashi seemed to have jumped a couple of steps but Iruka did not want to tell him to go back and retell the story in detail. Whatever Kakashi had deemed important had happened afterward, and that was what he needed to know.

"Couldn't you have told them who you were?" Iruka asked, knowing it was a stupid question but wanting to know. "You were their blood kin, if nothing else."

"Hatakes are a pack," Kakashi answered firmly. "Whoever is not part of the pack is torn to bits and fed to the dogs."

"I take it all the Hatakes have dogs," Iruka quipped before sobering up. "So you ran," he said. "I take it you got away successfully, because you are standing there with the Hatake crest in hand." Would Kakashi just get to the point!

"The thing is, I didn't," Kakashi replied. "I made a rookie mistake – I tripped over an ordinary wire and fell into a pit. Very basic trap – rather stupid." He shook his head as if amused at his stupidity. "I landed awkwardly, dislocated my shoulder and cracked the crest in two." That explained the crack Iruka had noticed earlier and also just how attached Kakashi was to the damn thing. He'd just equated its getting broken to a bodily injury.

"Then sensei appeared," Kakashi said softly, almost as if he was dreaming. "He came out of nowhere, but I think he was behind me all the time. He probably knew I was about to do something stupid and had come to stop me – or maybe to see how far I could get. He fought those bloodhounds off -- " Iruka assumed they were not really bloodhounds but people who were after Kakashi's blood, unless the Hatake clan bred bloodhounds, and did any of Kakashi's dogs have bloodhound in them, and he was so off-topic, because he did not want to hear about how the Fourth had saved Kakashi's life. Amazing how the most revered man in Konoha, the greatest hero Iruka had admired so much, had become his biggest competitor.

"Sensei stood in front of me, fighting them off one by one …" Iruka had not come to Kakashi's bedroom to hear exploits about his former lover. "He didn't need to; if I had been caught, the worst they could have done was taken the crest away from me. Well, roughed me up a bit as well but they wouldn't have killed me. But sensei not only defended me then, he successfully defended my actions to the council of elders later. He didn't have to; he was a busy man, and by then, the council was already considering him for the next Hokage and his standing up for me could have ruined his chances for good."3

"So," said Iruka, a little annoyed. "You wanted to tell me that your sen --" Iruka had the scariest thought that perhaps Kakashi was so fond of calling him sensei because who'd have noticed a slip of the tongue if he mixed up the people. "The Fourth was the sort of person who went out of his way to help his student," Iruka said. Then he paused. "That's sick – is that why you think I'm like him -- because I also help out my students? I don't sleep with Naruto; that's disgusting."

"Of course, no one wants to sleep with Naruto –" Kakashi said sounding shocked but grinning all the same. "Unless the no one is called Uchiha Sasuke."

"That's not funny," Iruka snapped. "And don't equate me to your sen – the Fourth because of one event… and for the record, Naruto and Sasuke love each other like brothers."

"Then thank god they are orphans, because Konoha isn't ready to deal with another genocide," Kakashi snapped back. "The reason I said you were like sensei was because you helped me out with the dogs." When Iruka opened his mouth, Kakashi shushed him. "You did not judge me or tell me it was stupid – you …"

"I had my reasons," Iruka said coldly. "And I could not have left those dogs to suffer…not everything is about you, you know."

"Sometimes," Kakashi said thoughtfully. "It's the person, not the actions," he said. "You are strong; you were willing to die to protect me and the rest of the pack, and you do not back down from any challenge."

"The same as the Fourth," Iruka said dully.

"Those things in you made me aware that Minato was not the only person to have such qualities," Kakashi said. "I always thought he might be the only person to be so selfless… but I also know you are different from him."

"You mean I look nothing like him," Iruka said blandly. "How could I have missed that?" He remembered Kakashi's comparison of the two of them, and it had not been flattering.

"_He was beautiful, so bright, with his hair and his flashy moves. While you, sensei, I think are barely noticeable. You know, I never noticed you before the chuunin exam, though I must have been handing over mission reports to you for a long time before that."_

"You have a temper like he never did," Kakashi said softly. "And you can be forceful when you want to. You don't look it, but you can hold your ground in an argument…"

"What's this," Iruka said irritably, feeling a little pleased but unwilling to admit it. "List my attributes day? The bottom line is…"

"…is," Kakashi interrupted. "I'm not mixing you up with someone else, never fear. But you do remind me of him sometimes .." no need to ask who HE was. "…and maybe that's what attracted me to you in the first place. I wondered what I saw in you and now… I know."

Iruka mentally tossed a coin to see if it was worth the effort to punch Kakashi in the jaw and discolor his perfect skin before he walked out. Or simply burst into tears. Or laugh. Kakashi had just told Iruka he liked him. Because he had the same qualities as the Fourth. Or because he had some of the qualities as the Fourth.

Or whatever.

"I love you," Iruka blurted out. "That is the bottom line. I don't think there's any other person in the whole world like you, and to me that's just fine. I'm not mixing you up with long-dead father figures or the Third or the Fourth. You can have your crazy dogs and your weird need to wear a mask and … and everything. I don't care. I love you the way you are. Period." He paused for breath, saw that Kakashi was staring at him wordlessly and decided to continue. "If I understand properly, you saw me, liked me and wanted to screw me. Now you know why. Because I have some qualities that remind you of your lover – who, I might remind you, has been dead for a little over a decade. That's obsession. Get over it."

"Not everyone loves for the same reasons," Kakashi replied calmly. "Some people go for a certain type. For me, it's the qualities. Don't get me wrong – se – Iruka," At least Kakashi could see the error in referring to both Iruka and the Fourth as sensei "… you will always be you. You have to understand, I'll always love him. But also, I think I can love you." Kakashi smiled wryly and continued. "Physically, I already find you attractive, but I have a feeling you need more than that."

Iruka took a deep breath and looked down at his feet.

"I need time to think," he said slowly. Wanting Kakashi was one thing ... having him under these conditions was another. But Iruka was not cruel enough to leave Kakashi hanging. He walked towards Kakashi and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Your bedroom isn't the best place for me to think this over so – tomorrow …breakfast. You and the dogs – at my place."

Kakashi stepped back and nodded, his face blank. "We'll all be there, Iruka."

1 I noticed that in Naruto, ppl do eat sitting on chair and not on the floor as in the traditional Japanese style which is why I included chairs for the dinning room.

2 Kakashi's bedroom image courtesy of Naruto shippuuden 6-7 (double episode)

3 I'm taking liberties with the time line here, since I'm not sure exactly when the Fourth actually became the Hokage.

A/N- the next chapter should wrap up this story.


	19. Chapter 19

Part 19

Iruka had been raised with good enough manners to know the right way to leave a dinner party. Even if the party in question did consist of one human host and more dogs than he could count. He hitched the puppy closer to his chest, bowed politely to Kakashi and turned his back to the door as soon as it had been closed.

He stood there a couple of seconds, feeling stunned as the puppy grumbled sleepily about something, wondering what to do. He tried to concentrate on leaving the vicinity of the jounin quarters before running onto anyone he knew. He did not even want to think of what he had been told until he was safely within the confines of his home. He desperately wanted to go home, lie down on his bed and look at all that was familiar. After what Iruka had heard, all he needed to do was bury his head in his pillow and forget about it until he was rational enough to think.

He was angry – very, very angry, not just because he had been compared to the Fourth and found inferior. He was angry that Kakashi had never noticed him before Naruto had pointed him out. Iruka had been noticing Kakashi for as long as he could remember. He was not sure when the obsession had started – when he had seen Kakashi walk down the Konoha main road with his ANBU gear and his dogs (as if the mask did anything to hide that silver hair) or when Iruka was a student and the twin legends of Uchiha Itachi and Hatake Kakashi, the youngest ever students to graduate, were told in each class at the academy in hushed voices.

Well, Iruka thought wryly, all he had done to show Kakashi he had the same qualities as the Fourth was go on a mission with him, rescue a bunch of dogs, break a leg and, lest he forgot, have sex with the copy-nin. He had had to do all that just to get Kakashi's attention, Iruka thought in a fresh wave of anger, as he clutched the puppy tighter. He wondered what he would have to do to keep Kakashi interested. While Iruka did not exactly call out to be noticed like some of the ninja did, he was hardly in hiding or residing in the Fire Country Monastery.1 Kakashi was just too blind to notice what was around him, unless it was thrust right at him, Iruka thought. Then, Iruka realized with a guilty start that he was gripping the puppy so hard that it was starting to whimper.

With a muttered apology, he relaxed and brought up the pup to kiss her on the forehead. And stopped – and sniffed. Thinking back, Iruka recalled he did remember Pakkun taking a bath. He knew, from Sakura's complaints, that Pakkun used the same shampoo she did, so it was probably a personal choice. He had seen some of Kakakshi's other nin-dogs taking baths, but he could not recall any of the newly-rescued dogs bathing. By the smell of it, the puppy had not bathed since birth – which was not very surprising--but still, something that needed to be dealt with immediately.

It was as he detoured to buy some herbal rose-scented shampoo (since the puppy was a she, Iruka was sure she would appreciate the feminine touch) he remembered that he had invited Kakashi for breakfast the same day he had promised to take Gai shopping. He groaned and wondered if he should do something about it. On the top of it all, as his mind cleared, he thought wildly of what to feed sixteen dogs.

Iruka walked home dazed, the puppy fast asleep in his arms, until he almost walked face first into the broad chest of Ibiki, who was standing in the foot path leading up to his quarters.

"Oh," said Iruka, suddenly more alert than he had been since some time back. "Ibiki-san, I didn't see you." Which was a pretty lame statement for a ninja to say to a six-foot-something guy with scars across his face, standing directly in his path.

"Can I have a word with you, Iruka-sensei?" Ibiki asked in a serious tone which did not bode well.

"I guess," said Iruka, feeling slightly overwhelmed and somewhat apprehensive. "What is it?"

"Can we talk about this inside?" Ibiki suggested, and Iruka had to juggle the pup, shampoo bottles and hand seals before he managed to open the door to his apartment .

"Why don't you come in," he said a little weakly, wishing it was otherwise.

"Isn't that one of Kakashi's pups?" Ibiki asked, as Iruka placed his shopping on the floor and tried to coax the sleepy pup to lie on top of it. Iruka was sure that was Ibiki's way of putting him at ease, since there was no way anyone could have not noticed that Iruka was lugging around a pup curled up in his arm.

"Mine," Iruka said with a weak grin. "I'm adopting her."

"Ah," Ibiki said with an air of understanding. "Easier to raise than kids, I hear."

"Really," said Iruka wondering how in the world Ibiki would know, unless he raised little kids and puppies for food.

"Well," said Ibiki with a shrug, as he walked over to the sofa and sat down comfortably. "That's what I heard from Inuzuka-san," he added. "Says dogs are easier to toilet train than kids."

"Well," said Iruka, at a loss for anything to say and irritated by the way his day was going. He was sure Ibiki was not there to impart his knowledge of raising dogs or kids, but he did not really want to push the issue. With a mental shrug, Iruka slowly sat on a chair facing the Interrogator and decided that the pup should stay with him on his lap while he talked to Ibiki.

"Let me get straight to the point," Ibiki said after a small pause. "The reason I'm here is because there are signs that someone has tampered with some of the ANBU personnel files in the Hokage office."

"Oh," said Iruka with a sinking feeling. He knew exactly what was being referred to.

"And when I checked for signs of entry…" Ibiki said suggestively.

"OK, I did it," Iruka said, without bothering to cover up his misery. "I took a peek into Kakashi's file." Actually, he had read the file from top to bottom as fast as humanly possible but he was not going to admit that.

"I know," Ibiki said blandly. "If it had been anyone else but you, I'd have them bound in chains and grilled to made sure they aren't spies."

"I'm not," Iruka protested heatedly.

"You're just lucky Kakashi is not a part of the ANBU-root," Ibiki continued. "Then you'd be dealing with Danzou-sama, not me, and that would be the end of you." Ibiki looked at the roof, where a rather odd wind chime made by the six year olds hung, and said rather smugly. "Of course, you wouldn't have easy access to ANBU-root files or …"

"What do you want from me?" Iruka interrupted rudely, not willing to wait it out. He was in hot water; he saw little point in stalling.

"I was wondering if you were willing to tell me what exactly you were looking for?" Ibiki said in a steely voice, clearly not too pleased at being interrupted. "We are a country at war, and Iruka sensei, no matter how innocent your intentions are, I can't have you pulling stunts like some lovesick school girl."

"I'm …" Iruka struggled with the correct way to say that he had meant no harm and he had been an idiot and if Kakashi ever found out, Iruka was as good as dead.

"How about a trade," Ibiki said in a slightly more friendly tone that made Iruka glad he had a puppy to hug.

"What trade?" Iruka asked, already feeling little pinned.

"How about you tell me what your intentions towards Kakashi are and…"

"What are you, his mother?" Iruka shouted, before Ibiki's stern gaze forced his mouth shut.

"Iruka-sensei…"

"Don't tell me you came here out of the goodness of your heart," Iruka said forcefully, though his heart was beating wildly. Normal people did not speak to the head of Interrogation division like that and expect to live. But after being carried back to the village on Ibiki's back and having spoken about his love life, Iruka was past the point where he was intimidated by the larger man.

"I do care for the ninja in the village," Ibiki said with seriousness. "If they are not mentally stable, then they would not be fit to be ninja anymore."

"Is that why you were nice to me when you brought me back to the village?" Iruka asked.

"Why don't I tell you how it works," Ibiki said with a grimace that made Iruka want to whimper. "I knew the next day that you had gone through Kakashi's personal files, but I thought I'd wait and find out if you were going to pass on the information to the enemies. Kakashi is, at present, an important asset to the village, and I was wondering if you might make him unusable."

Iruka stared, wordlessly. He remembered what Kakashi had said about Ibiki having had sex with Kakashi and about knowing the secret of Kakashi's first lover. He could see Ibiki keeping such information out of Kakashi's file not because of any friendship or any such feeling but because not all Hokages and council members were as understanding as the Sandaime. Should someone find out about Kakashi's childhood and scandal resulted, Kakashi would not be able to function properly, and Konoha would loose one of its most formidable weapons.

"However, after our little chit-chat I realized you did not mean any harm," Ibiki continued smoothly. "But now -- I wonder…"

"I think that's none of your business," Iruka said coldly.

"Maybe," Ibiki agreed readily. "But I do have to make sure neither of you is going to fall apart."

"We won't," Iruka asserted with false bravado. "I think you should leave now. I'm tired, and I have a breakfast date …"

"With Kakashi," Ibik asked. "Is that what is bothering you? Do you have to tell him something?"

"There are certain things I have to decide on my own," Iruka replied, so Ibiki would not inadvertently say something that could affect his judgment.

"Oh," Ibiki looked amused. "Let me tell you something I've learned from my years of studying the human mind, then. Iruka-sensei, you've already made up your mind on what to do. But do you know you have?"

Iruka stared at Ibiki and then smiled faintly and tilted his head to the side to show his understanding. "I remember Naruto told me about the final question at the chuunin exam," he said, instead of answering directly. "Will you take a mission without knowing the outcome of a mission?"

"And your answer is?" Ibiki pressed.

"Yes," Iruka said, without hesitating. "I'm a ninja no matter what, and I know just how fragile life is. If I do not find out what I'm missing out on, I'll regret it forever. If I took only missions which I knew were sure to succeed, then I'd never take any missions."

Ibiki looked pleased at the answer. "You'll make a fine jounin," Ibiki said in approval.

"But there is the matter of the ANBU records," Iruka said, bringing up the subject he did not want to bring up. But he knew he had to get it over with if he was to move on and…

"All I'm asking you is that you keep an eye on Kakashi," Ibiki said. "You can tell him if you want to. Most high-rank ninjas do have someone who keeps an eye on them; whether it be their mother, wife or a close friend. It's how it is here in Konoha. It's not just to make sure they're not selling the village's secrets to the highest bidder; it's also to make sure they are mentally stable. While most physical illnesses are easily seen and treated, those with mental problems rarely see themselves as sick. Sometimes there are no outward manifestations of mental unrest -- unless it's something minute only people close to that person would know and…"

Iruka looked at Ibiki and nodded finally, understanding what he was being told. "I read his file. It says he's never had a breakdown."

_Most ANBU had breakdowns, some in private, some public, but always recorded. The ANBU handlers' main worry had been that Kakashi had never broken down; which meant he was very good, had hidden it, or worse, he was bottling it up. So, at the end of his tenth year as ANBU, Sandaime had stepped in and forcibly removed him from the ANBU ranks._

"It's up to you to keep an eye on him," Ibiki said with a nod. "He's finally shown an interest in someone after all this time -- there might be hope for him."

"What do you mean?" Iruka asked, feeling slightly apprehensive. "What do you mean there is hope for him?"

"What do ninjas do when they are no longer ninjas?" Ibiki asked and then smiled when Iruka frowned. "It's not a trick question, Iruka sensei, it's just an observation. People should have lives outside their work -- and Kakashi has been living inside his little shell for a long, long time. He takes care of his team members at the expense of his life, and he has never turned down a dangerous mission. He lives for his work, but you've finally managed to get his attention -- I don't know how …"

"Naruto paid him for it," Iruka said, strangely enough feeling none of the bitterness associated with it.

" -- and perhaps you can finally ask him to drop that stupid mask of his and join the real world."

Iruka looked at Ibiki for a while, thinking over what Kakashi had told him.

"_You have to understand, I'll always love him. Just, I think I can love you."_

Iruka didn't know if Kakashi could ever love him the way he loved the silver-haired man. But he was going to give it a try.

"I'll keep an eye on him," Iruka said finally. "I love him." Ibiki nodded his satisfaction and got up to leave, but Iruka held up a hand, stalling. "But…" Ibiki frowned, but Iruka continued. "…I'm going to tell him that you asked me to keep an eye on him, and I will only tell you if I think something is seriously wrong with him. If you want some sort of daily report or update, then I suggest you try asking one of nin-dogs."

Ibiki nodded his agreement to this condition.

"Two," Iruka continued a little breathlessly, pushing his luck while the going was good. "I want you to take Gai shopping for clothes for his date with Shizune-sama tomorrow morning. And while you're at it, you'd better tell me -- what exactly do you think is the best way to feed sixteen dogs."

!!

Having finally gotten that confrontation over with, Iruka finished up for the day. He tucked the puppy into his laundry basket under the kitchen sink and stumbled into his bedroom, ready to fall into bed. His leg was throbbing painfully, and the calf muscle spasmed whenever he stood still for longer than five minutes. All he wanted to do was sleep for a long, long time

And stopped.

And stared.

"How long have you been here?" he asked in a carefully controlled voice.

Kakashi looked up from the _Icha-Icha Paradise _he was reading and smiled. Iruka assumed he was smiling, since his eye curved into a crescent. He was seated cross-legged on Iruka's bed, looking at home in his jounin uniform. "Iruka-sensei, you didn't tell me you had a collection of Ich-Icha of your own. This is even better than mine."

"How did you get in?" Iruka asked slowly.

"See, now everyone thinks Jiraiya only wrote few Icha-Icha books – the thing is, most people don't know that the same book has several versions. Now, take this for example – it was written before he became a Sannin, and his writing shows the lack of experience."

"You mean the throbbing hot rod that dived into her inviting womanhood," Iruka said dryly, giving up trying to have a proper conversation with Kakashi. "Well, I did notice in the next book that it became a sixteen-inch, hot, throbbing manhood and her lush…"

Kakashi nodded, looking delighted and then added, "I'm looking forward to his latest book; it's supposed to be rather fascinating -- the main character has some sort of secret which is going to be revealed."

"I just can't wait," Iruka deadpanned, as he finally stepped into the bedroom, tiredness and the unexpected events of the day getting the best of him. "The main character probably has got two dicks and no balls," he said, too tired to even bother blushing. He sank onto the corner of his bed and toed off his sandals, trying hard not to groan. He had wanted to shower before bed, change his clothes and brush his teeth. But now that he had finally sat down, all Iruka wanted to do was lie back and fall asleep. Not that it was possible.

"I thought we were to meet in the morning," Iruka said as patiently as he could. "For breakfast."

"I thought it over, and then realized I can stay here with you until morning," Kakashi said, looking up from the book with another sunny smile. "It'll be morning eventually."

"Ibiki-sama came to talk to me," Iruka finally said.

"I know," Kakashi said seriously, his smile gone. "I heard."

"Good," said Iruka, flustered but pleased the hard part of the conversation was over. "I think. I don't have to repeat what I just said."

"So you did plan on saying yes," Kakashi said with a small grin, as he pushed down his mask. As always, Iruka felt lightheaded at the sight of those perfect features. He had a feeling it was going to take him a while to get used to it. "Then why did you not tell me?"

"I was going to let you stew a little," Iruka admitted finally. "After all, I've been pining away for you for a quite some time, and it seems only fair that you suffer at least a fraction of what I felt for a couple of hours."

"You are a cruel man," Kakashi said in a perky voice. "Let's just get that part over with so you can get into bed with me."

Iruka stared a few minutes before he could speak coherently. "Let me tell you this before you get swept away by the tenderness," he said sarcastically. "Just because I said yes to having -- some sort of relationship with you, it does not mean I'm going to fall into bed with you."

"Been there, done that," Kakashi quipped, making Iruka want to punch his lights out. He took a deep breath, stood up and limped over to his clothes rack to pick up something to wear. His leg seemed to have fallen asleep after the brief rest and seemed to have no inclination of waking up.

"I'm really tired," Iruka said finally. "I don't feel like arguing with you or coming up with witty one-liners to everything you say. I'll see you tomorrow or can you…"

"That the way you treat your true love?" Kakashi's voice held a note of teasing in it.

"If you think I'm going to go all out and shower you with red rose petals, you've got another thing coming," Iruka said wearily as he walked into the bathroom. Despite what he had said he did not think Kakashi would leave. Especially if he had some reason to be there, so Iruka washed hurriedly and changed into a loose bottom and a large t-shirt he reserved for bed on cold nights.

Walking into the bedroom, he spied Kakashi on his bed in a more relaxed position, lying on his side, head propped up on one elbow, still reading intently. When Iruka walked in, he looked up with a smirk, "Thought you'd be better dressed for the occasion," he said. "Or at least undressed for the occasion."

"I'm starting to regret this already," Iruka mumbled, loud enough for Kakashi to hear as he dropped his dirty clothes into a corner of the floor after recalling that the puppy was now the sole owner of his laundry basket.

"Get into bed, Iruka," Kakashi said, sounding serious. "I promise not to do anything you don't want."

Iruka stood irresolutely, staring at the intruder in his bed, and then smiled. "Do you have any idea how many times I've had fantasies about having you in my bed," he said. "But now I'm too tired and my leg is cramping and …"

Kakashi drew back the cover invitingly, then scooted to the other side of the bed. "I'll be on the top of the cover if it makes you feel any better," he offered.

It was not a particularly cold night and Iruka was too exhausted to argue with it. "Fine," he said, as he crawled into bed and pulled up the cover on his side. "Aren't you going to sleep?" After all, Kakashi had also gotten back from the same mission as he had, and Kakashi had been at it a little longer than Iruka had.

"In a minute," Kakashi said absentmindedly. "I'm getting to the good part where the hero saves the day by jumping in front of a milk cart."

"The out of control milk cart full of helpless milk maids, all with ample heaving bosoms and a distinct lack of underwear," Iruka said dryly.

Kakashi burst out laughing at that, and Iruka blushed and turned on his side, facing away from Kakashi. "You should write a book, Iruka-sensei," he said. "It will be called Icha-Icha Paradise Abridged Version.2"

Iruka opened his mouth to tell Kakashi that he was sure it was going to be a bestseller, but he could not decide if it was worth saying or not. Instead, he burrowed deeper into the bedclothes and closed his eyes, trying not to think about his situation. Maybe he should not have said yes to Kakashi – perhaps it was big mistake. It was not his heart he doubted, but Kakashi's. What was Iruka to Kakashi, a person to crash in on and act as a distraction, a joke. Was he capable of having a regular life with Kakashi?

Tired as he was, he fell into an uneasy sleep, where Iruka kept on running around Konoha looking for an elusive answer to a question he did not know existed. He was sure the answer was there, but every time he stopped to think, he could not remember what the question was. However, he knew he could not stop, so he kept on running until his leg started to hurt and …

Iruka woke up twisted in his sheets, gasping for breath, as a painful cramp seemed to twist his calf muscle into a pretzel. He sat up hurriedly and tried to grip his left leg with his hands but the sheets prevented him from doing anything more than scrabbling at his leg weakly. His room was dark, the curtain, which he never closed, was drawn close together, and he could not even see his hand in front of his face let alone his leg.

"I got it." The voice next to him made him jump, having momentarily forgotten that Kakashi was in bed next to him. Iruka flopped back into bed, his heart beating wildly from the double of shock of waking up to a cramp and the presence of someone else in his bed after a lifetime of sleeping alone.

Iruka tried to steady his breathing as Kakashi's fingers closed on his leg with unnerving accuracy and started to massage his abused muscle gently. As the long fingers dug into the knots in his calf, Iruka sank further back into the pillow biting back a cry of pain. As he relaxed, the pain in his leg diminished, and instead a surprisingly comfortable warmth started to spread through his leg. He slowly lifted his head for a better look, expecting to see nothing and was rewarded by the sight of Kakashi, whose finger tips were glowing slightly in the dark.

"What…" Iruka said in confusion, scrabbled with his hand for the reading light by his bedside and switched it on, then gasped in understanding. "Your chakra …"

"Lightning chakra," Kakashi said slowly, even as his fingers worked out the stiffness. "It's similar to tiny electric shocks that'll stimulate your nerve endings and relax your muscles."

"Oh," said Iruka flopping back into his bed. "So the chidori is not your only talent."

"Oh," said Kakashi, he voice taking a playful tone. "If nothing else, I can work in a massage parlor when I retire."

Iruka tried to imagine Kakashi working in such an establishment and was instantly rewarded with an image of females piling one over the other as they tried to get his attention. The stab of jealousy that followed at the thought of Kakashi touching someone else so intimately was also shocking.

"I had no idea you were thinking of alternative life styles," Iruka said, as Kakashi lifted his leg a little and forced his knee to bend and then straighten. His muscles moved smoothly, and his leg felt as good as new.

"Everyone should have a fallback plan," Kakashi said as he slid one of his hands until he was cupping the sole of Iruka's foot while the other slid under his knee.

"Well," said Iruka as Kakashi continued to slide the lower hand up, until he reached the waist band of his pants. "Hey …" he started to inch away. "Will you stop that, it's not even…"

"Bad dreams, Iruka-sensei," Kakashi's voice was far more serious than his teasing finger would suggest. "You seem to be worrying, even when you should be resting."

"That does not mean you should …"

"Doubts, Iruka-sensei?" Kakashi asked, even as his hand slid in, feeling warm against his skin. "You know what they say about doubt – there are two things you should not do in doubt, and one of them is get married."

Iruka's head snapped up at that, and he stared at Kakashi, eyes wide. Though his voice was causal, Kakashi's maskless face betrayed his feelings. His eyes were anxious, and Iruka could see that Kakashi was as unsure of Iruka's feelings for him as much as Iruka was of Kakashi's. But what really made Iruka's heart skip a beat was the word "married" – Kakashi had not said relationship or sex or any other word. Instead, Kakashi had used a word which usually, at least in Iruka's mind, stood for lifelong commitment and sharing.

Iruka relaxed slightly, not fighting, at Kakashi pulled him up for a kiss. Maybe Iruka knew love and sex as two separate things, but perhaps Kakashi needed to seal everything with sex – making love. So be it. After all, Iruka thought, he had nothing to lose.

!!

When Kakashi had first tried to flip him over, Iruka resisted. He was not yet ready for that, he thought, as he resisted, but now he could not even think of one good reason as to why he had opposed that idea. Iruka clenched both hands hard in the sheets to either side of him and buried his face in the pillow, groaning as Kakashi's fingers moved inside him.

He felt sweat-slick and hot with it, those long fingers reaching to his very core, making him feel sensitized and aching. He groaned low in his throat when Kakashi's hand spread over the small of his back, pressing his hips down against the dampened sheet as his fingers twisted, reaching in toward Iruka's center as if he sought to make it his own.

"Kakashi," Iruka whispered, closing his eyes as Kakashi added another finger. At the beginning, it had been just odd, and then after the second finger a little pain but more of a burning sensation in an area that had been untouched before. It was also strangely pleasant, and Iruka remembered to bear down, so he would not be discomforted even more. As the third finger was added, the slow burn started to edge past the line of pleasure and into something else now, something slow and achy and blissfully sweet that threatened to swallow him whole.

A slow kiss against the back of his shoulder, and Iruka moaned for it, feeling Kakashi's hair brush hard across the back of his neck. Kakashi's breath was shaky, and Iruka pressed back against him, letting him to know it was okay, he could do this, that Kakashi could do whatever he wanted with him, and it would be okay.

"Iruka," Kakashi said, and it was barely audible on the breath that expelled it. Iruka spread his thighs and pushed up onto his elbows, urging him in, as far as he wanted to go, and Kakashi gave a shaky laugh as his other hand groped for Iruka's hip, pressing him down again.

"Patience – wait a little."

Simple command, breathed out on a whisper, and Iruka buried his face in his arms, feeling the strain in the arch of his shoulders, his thighs, his toes as they curled against the sheets. His whole body was stretched thin with the need to come, but he also did not know what to expect. The novelty of the feelings, the experience as Kakashi took control of his body surely and expertly, making him feel strong and wanton as well as scared of the final outcome.

Kakashi was in control, something which Iruka understood. It was not just sex, it was also his willingness to let someone take control of his body – something that had never happened in his life. It was a scary feeling for Iruka as he lay helplessly, his butt hanging in the air in what should be a totally humiliating position, his breathing sounding loud in the closed room. But it was exhilarating – it was liberating that for once Iruka did not have to think about what to do next. Someone else was doing that for him.

"Iruka." Another wet kiss to the back of his shoulder, tongue flickering with the heat of a brand against the sweat that coated his skin, and then the fingers were gone. Iruka groaned aloud, feeling stunned at the sudden emptiness of it, but then Kakashi's body was pressing heavy against his back, knees pushing his thighs further apart, and Iruka almost sobbed with relief at the first rough thrust as Kakashi's cock slid into him.

Bliss – it was shear perfection. Completion. Iruka pressed his face against the pillow, gasping through the first hard pain of it, but it was a good pain, and it didn't last near long enough for his liking. Then there was nothing but the slick slide of Kakashi's body inside him, above him, around him, and there wasn't enough air in the room, he didn't think there could be enough air in the entire world.

Kakashi's grip on him was hard, possessive, and Iruka arched under it, moaning when Kakashi's hands slid under his arms and up around his shoulders, holding him back tight against his chest as he rode him. Iruka spread his thighs as far as he could, tightening his hands in the pillow under his head, and Kakashi sank his teeth into the side of his neck, breathing out hard against his skin.

And it was hard and fast and hot and messy and everything they both needed right then, and Iruka couldn't hold back the tears that unexpectedly sprang into his eyes as the pleasure of it burned through him, crackling under his skin like an itch he couldn't scratch. And then finally -- finally -- he plunged over the edge with a hoarse cry that seemed to rip the very heart out of him, and there was nothing but Kakashi's arms to hold his trembling body together.

Afterwards, Kakashi lay panting hard on top of him, a hard and sweaty lump of body that enveloped him completely, refusing to let him go. He mouthed blindly at the side of Iruka's neck in a lazy, satiated rhythm that made Iruka smile, even though he knew it was going to leave a hell of a mark in the morning.

Kakashi seemed to want to say something, his voice sounding hoarse. But Iruka did not want to hear those words then, not when they were lying in the afterglow of sex. He wanted those words said to him when they were both able to think clearly, when their brains were not leaking out of their ears. "It's okay," he gasped, sliding sideways until he could fold Kakashi into his arms. Kakashi went willingly, curling in against him, and Iruka held him tightly, telling him with his body that he wasn't ever going to let him go.

"Love you, too," he murmured instead. There were so many things he needed to deal with – them – both of them. Iruka could make a list, and it would be endless. But he gave those worrying thoughts a firm push and sank into his pillow willingly. But it was enough, for this moment, to lie here in their bed with Kakashi in his arms, and know that it was real.

They were ninjas, and all they had was the present. If there was anything to come, Iruka decided, they would deal with it in the future.

Together.

!!

Future was

Iruka opening his eyes to find himself in bed alone with solemn faced dogs sitting all around him. "Are you going to be our new mommy?" Pakkun asks in a serious voice.

Iruka stepping on a small yellow puddle on his way to the kitchen and wondering if Ibiki knew anything about toilet training leaking pups.

Iruka listening to Gai tell him about his date with Shizune for the forty fifth time. It was starting to become a weekly event.

Iruka finding out that all his students had learned how to recognize cloud patterns during his absence.

Iruka deciding that he did not want to approach Tsunade for muscle relaxing lube, no matter how tempting.

Iruka coming home after a long day at work to find Kakashi darning his socks in mismatching thread while sitting on Iruka's bed.

1 I have no idea if there is such a thing.

2 I should rec the Naruto Abridged Version, available on youtube, made by two extremely talented guys. It's worth watching, if you haven't already come across it. Each part is about 5 to 10 minutes long and therefore easy to watch. :)

All right, at long last I have finished this story. I should thank everyone who stuck with me to the end and made helpful suggestions on the way. I also thank anyone and everyone who ever bothered to read this. This was written to be read.

This fic would not have been possible without the help of my wonderful beta. She was the one who pointed out the errors and made all sorts of helpful comments.

If there is anything else you think I need to deal with in my fic let me know. I think it can do with an epilogue if there are any loose threads to be tied up.

Thank you.


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